The Weekly W: Words Without Ws.

As this semester draws to a close, I am announcing the end of the Weekly W.  After 6 months of weekly posts, I am having trouble coming up with new W words, and anime that use them.  So instead, I will be starting "Where in Japan", a general review of Japan's geography, culture and history.  If you have any specific topics you'd like to see covered, please send an email in, and I will do my best to make sure to work it in. 

This will be starting next Wednesday, so I hope to see you then.

The Weekly W: Wings and Cat Ears Oh My!

Anime tends to have certain things that have become iconic.  From hair (pink, blue, spiky, gravity defying) to clothes (school uniforms, long coats, and wind blowing them tastefully in all situations), some things just scream anime. 

Let's take a look at a couple of other common character traits.

The Weekly W: Wind

From the first episode of anime I ever watched, there has always been wind as an important factor.  From Pokemon to Bleach to almost every other anime I've seen, wind has been used either as part of the plot or as a symbolic gesture or just to make that hair look even cooler. 

Here we go!

The Weekly W: Why do we watch anime?

Why do we watch anime?  Is it for the adventure? For the romance? For the laughter? For the tragedy?  There are so many reasons to watch anime, and they vary day to day and from person to person.

The Weekly W: Wizards!

Magic is a really neat aspect of many fantasy series.  With Halloween right around the corner, it's a perfect week to talk about magic in anime.

The Weekly W: What? Miria and Isaac Return!

This week on Durarara! we had a cameo by two lovely characters.  Isaac and Miria are two of my favorite characters from Baccano!.  It's such a good series, and Isaac and Miria are fantastic characters.  Here are some of my favorite things about them (lots of images and gifs in this one).  Possible spoilers for Baccano!.

The Weekly W: Wells

In anime, wells seem to come up here and there.  There are many different kinds of wells, and usually there's a good reason they are present.  The most notable well in any anime is probably the one from Inuyasha, but other anime also have wells or fountains in them. 

The Weekly W: Waylaid!

As you may have noticed, I got a little confused this week and forgot that it was Wednesday, so here's a late post.  I would say I was waylaid by something important, but I just got lost on the path of life and never made it to the blog.  So this week, we'll look at some anime characters getting waylaid on their journeys!

The Weekly W: Wait what Tom?

Madame President the Vice President here and I'm sure you are wondering "Tom you oddly bright yellow person, why are you posting on Wednesday" Well Sarah has a test so I'm covering for her this week. Which means at some point she will take one of my post.
So to go with the wait what. Someone decided that instead of Gundams being mechs. They could be girls wearing mech armor. Called Gundam MS Girls(make sure you have safe search on)

The Weekly W: Writing

It's the second full week of classes.  I hope they're going well.  This week, we'll look at some anime characters and how they write.  It's fascinating to see, since each character has their own style.

The Weekly W: Wacky

Some anime are funny, others are serious.  Some make sense, others don't really explain why things are the way they are.  Sometimes a show seems strange, but turns out to be really, really good.  Let's take a look at some of the wacky shows I've seen!

The Weekly W: Welcome!

 

Welcome (back) for another wonderful semester here at URI.  Welcomes in anime can be varied, from silly to dangerous, but they always start a story and often, new friendships.  Let's take a look at some first encounters!

The Weekly W: Wise?

Some character types are common across anime series.  In series with larger casts, each character often embodies a "type" which becomes the foundation for their character.  One of the "types" is the megane (literally "glasses-character").  In many cases this character is the brains of the operation, but in other series, the complete opposite is true.  Eyeglasses alone cannot determine which character will turn out to be the "smart" one, but subclasses of "glasses characters" have distinctive roles in anime.

The Weekly W: Whimsical

When I look for anime to watch, oftentimes I am looking for something lighthearted and fun.  There are many anime that fit that criteria, but I'll go over a couple of my favorites.  Here we go!

The Weekly W: Wandering

There are so many series that revolve around a character wandering around.  Why is this?  Does the journey set up a convenient way to advance the plot?  Does it reduce the need for the character's acquaintances and history to be brought up?  Or is there some deeper reason to have our protagonist go on a journey?

The Weekly W: Welcome

As you may know, Ouran High School Host Club is one of my favorite series.  It was really funny, and the characters were interesting, even if they were ridiculous.  One of the most iconic parts of the series is when Haruhi accidentally enters the Host Club while looking for a place to study.  This accidental encounter eventually forms a very strong friendship.  Let's take a look at some other early meetings between characters.

The Weekly W: Why 2 - Rivalries Across Anime

In any story, we look for sources of conflict.  In anime, oftentimes the "Rival" plays the catalyst, motivating the character to reach goals and strive to be better.  The rival can be an enemy, friend, or someone in between.  The rival keeps the main character focused on their goal, and keeps them from being distracted.  Let's take a look at some rivalries.

**Spoilers for Naruto (not Shippuden)**

The Weekly W: Wildlife

All of the anime series I have chosen to watch on my own lately have had animals playing recurring roles.  This would not be surprising if it was the premise of the series, however, it just seems to be a side scene.  I have been pleasantly surprised by them.  Let's take a look at some animals in anime!

The Weekly W: Wistful

This year I have seen a lot of big changes in the lives of the people I went to high school with.  Graduating college, changing jobs, having a child, traveling, or getting married, it seems like time is moving quickly forward.  In this week's W, let's explore time and it's passing.

The Weekly W: Watermelon

As you may have noticed, we've covered all of the main W's at least once.  So in celebration of the ridiculous heat this summer and the watermelon I had with dinner, we'll be looking at watermelon in anime.  The obligatory summer episodes of anime often feature watermelon, fireworks, and beaches.  It's going to be sweet!