My Favorite Character from each of my Favorite Anime

Hi! I’ve done a few separate posts about my top 10 anime and my favorite anime characters, but I decided I’d combine those ideas into one post and try and pick out my favorite character from each of my favorite anime. This is going to be hard because I know I have multiple favorites for most of these, but I will do my best. Let’s go!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood- Hohenheim

I usually cycle between Ed, Hohenheim, and Mustang being my favorite character, but recently it’s been Hohenheim. I think he’s both under appreciated and misunderstood by the FMAB fandom. Long story short, I love characters riddled with guilt (not sure what this says about me lol). If you’re interested, I’ve already written a whole post about how much I love him!

Revolutionary Girl Utena- Utena

I always shift between Utena and Anthy being my favorite, but I really have loved Utena from the start. I find it very compelling how she hides her internal anguish behind her cheerful, positive persona.

Toradora- Taiga

I’ve already written so much about Taiga (in this post, spoilers) so there’s not much else to say besides that I’m the number 1 Taiga defender. I love her, she reminds me of myself in some ways, she’s great. I think she’s the perfect example of a ‘flawed’ protagonist.

Chihayafuru- Chihaya

Chihaya is such a ray of sunshine, comic relief, and a total fuck up, and yet she is an incredible karuta prodigy and the protagonist of the show. She is also one of the most realistic neurodivergent-coded characters I’ve ever seen. I think it’s fun how she defies expectations as well; she has the appearance of a beautiful cool model, but as soon as other characters talk to her they realize how much of a nerd she is.

March Comes in like a Lion- Hina

There are a lot of sub-plots and semi-important characters in this show, but the side character that I was always the most interested in was Hina. I think the way she is so open about her emotions is inspiring, and as she goes through hardships it’s nice to see how she matures while also maintaining her cheerful attitude.

Your Lie in April- Tsubaki

I haven’t watched this anime in a long time, but I do know that when I first watched it my favorite character was Tsubaki for sure. Her unrequited love plot line was heart wrenching and compelling.

Love is War- Ishigami

I also cycle between a few favorite characters in Love is War (I adore both Shirogane and Kaguya of course) but at this point in the story in the anime, Ishigami is my favorite. I think he is such a realistic portrayal of an insecure, awkward teen, and I love how noble and selfless he is behind the scenes.

Haikyuu- Kageyama

What else is there to say, truly? I loved Kageyama the second he was introduced. His dynamic with Hinata is what makes the show, and his stubborn, cold personality is something I tend to be drawn to when it comes to my favorite kinds of characters.

Madoka Magica- Homura

Sayaka is a really really close second, but after finishing the series for the first time I couldn’t get Homura’s story out of my head. Her determination and willpower are honestly unmatched, and each new watch of the show makes me appreciate her more.

Monster- Dieter

I feel like Dieter may seem like an odd choice for a favorite; as you may expect, Tenma (many people’s favorite I’d assume) is probably a close second for me. But I think I liked Dieter so much because he was proof that love and support are capable of saving even the most traumatized individual. He was so cute and I loved how much he loved Tenma.

If you made it through this whole thing, thanks for reading! Also, I highly recommend watching all of these, I’ve linked my spoiler free reviews in the titles if you haven’t watched them and are interested in finding out more.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

Rating my favorite anime from “where’s the comfort” to “tears of joy”

I saw sunshinefullsun’s post and thought it was such a cute idea, so here’s my own take on it! Here are my favorite shows ranked from the most heartwrenching to the least. (this was VERY hard because I love heartbreaking shows lmao)

Madoka Magica

Madoka is super dark and pretty violent, and I definitely need a recovery period afterwards every time I watch it (worth it, tho)

Your Lie in April

This is the first anime I ever watched, and its somber and heartwrenching undertones certainly set the tone for the type of anime I would like from then on.

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Utena’s bizarrely hilarious filler episodes bring this one down a few ranks in the heartbreaking department, but ultimately the very dark and too-real themes of RGU are still pretty heavy.

Anohana

This was also one of the first anime I ever watched, and even though not every moment is a sad one, I still cry every time I watch the finale.

March Comes in like a Lion

imo, Sangatsu no Lion has pretty much equal parts deep depression moments and uplifting cozy moments. It balances that tightrope very well.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I know a lot of people might be surprised by this one being so low, but to me FMAB is ultimately a triumphant story and fills me with more joy than dread (especially when up against some of my other favorites)

Toradora

I still cry so much at Toradora, but only because this anime showcases the brutal honesty surrounding teenage angst and relationships. It’s emotional, but it’s very real and grounded.

Love is War

Love is War is a comedy, so I definitely turn to this anime to feel better and lift my spirits. It can sometimes get serious about the struggles of young love, but ultimately it’s a feel good-show.

Haikyuu

Haikyuu is the anime I watch to hype myself up and feel really inspired and happy. I genuinely do cry when these boys win volleyball games.

Chihayafuru

Finally, Chihayafuru is definitely the lightest show out of all my favorites. Chihaya’s pure joy at playing karuta lifts me out of any bad mood.

This was rly fun! thanks to sunshinefullsun for the idea, and thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

Anime Rec List: Seinen

Most people are familiar with the anime genres of Shounen and Shoujo, but Seinen is another genre generally aimed at older (male) audiences. This often means that there’s more violence, adult themes, or that the topics are more serious. Here are some of my favorites!

(note: these are all seinen according to MyAnimeList. If you don’t think some of these should count as seinen, take it up with MAL not me)

Monster

Mushishi

March comes in like a Lion

Parasyte: The Maxim

Erased

Kaguya-sama: Love is War (apparently)

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you watched any of these because of my recommendation. I hope you enjoy!

-threecheersforinking

Anime Rec List: Family Friendly

Hey! I love recommending anime to people to watch with their whole family, but lately a lot of those have been movies, so I’ve wanted to do one for TV shows. I think sometimes people are hesitant to watch anime with parents/siblings because random sexual/inappropriate jokes pop up once in a while, so I wanted to make a list of safe options that don’t have any of that stuff. Let’s get into it!

Silver Spoon

Silver Spoon is a really cute, fun slice of life story about a city boy going to a farming high school. There are a few jokes about bras, and how the main character thought chicken eggs came out of the butthole, but besides that there’s no weird fanservice and it’s generally very clean.

Haikyuu

Haikyuu is one of the most popular anime out there, but I barely ever hear people mention that it’s very appropriate and fun to watch with everyone. There’s no fanservice and the most you get is teenagers talking about crushes they have, or finding girls hot.

March Comes in like a Lion

This anime has very emotionally mature themes and covers some serious topics, so I think it would be a great show to watch with parents. It’s about Shogi, a Japanese variant of chess, so learning about the game might be especially interesting to anyone who’s a chess player.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

FMAB is def a bit too violent for little kids, but adults and young teens should be able to handle it fine. It has great characters and is funny but also has serious themes, so I feel like this would be a fun thing to watch with siblings or friends unfamiliar with anime.

Mushishi

Mushishi is another very mature and serious show, so I think it would be especially appealing to adults who might be turned off by the bright colors and loud voices that usually come with anime comedies or romance shows. It can be very dark at times, but is definitely appropriate for teens and parents.

Obviously, you know your own family members best. For example, I watched The Promised Neverland with my dad and he absolutely loved it, but I know a lot of people who think their parents would be grossed out/disturbed by it. Still use this list as a guideline though, because I think sharing shows you like with family and friends is such a joyful thing.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

Anime Rec List: Anime Written by Women

I’ve been seeing some lists of female anime creators/mangaka going around lately, which is great, but many of them are very short and just include famous shonen like FMAB, Noragami, and Blue Exorcist. While it is important to point out that women can and do write action adventure stories aimed at boys, shonen isn’t the only anime genre that matters. Here are my favorites that are slice of life, romance, and more!

A Silent Voice

March Comes in like a Lion

Mushishi

Chihayafuru

Toradora

I’d like to note that there are also a lot of mangaka who choose to withhold their gender/identity, and it’s suspected that many of them are women who want to avoid gender discrimination in the industry. I also encourage everyone to uplift the voices of nonbinary mangaka online, if you know of any. Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

Manga Recommendations

Hey! So my last manga rec list was all manga I’ve completed, but I decided to make a list of manga I haven’t finished yet but still would recommend. All three of these manga have a very popular anime adaptation, but I believe their manga deserves to be talked about as well.

Mushishi

Mushishi is the story of Ginko, a traveling ‘mushishi’ who uses his knowledge about ‘mushi’ (small, usually invisible yokai-like beings) to help people in need. It isn’t usually advertised as such, but Mushishi can be very serious and haunting at times. It has really beautiful illustrations that are rarely gory but often disturbing. I tried watching the anime but really wasn’t as into it, it might’ve just been the episode I started on, but unfortunately I found it kind of slow and boring. Out of the three manga I talk about in this post, this is the only one where i actually wouldn’t recommend watching the anime; I believe the story just works better in manga form.

Sangatsu no Lion

Sangatsu no Lion (or March Comes in like a Lion) is a slice of life story about a teenage boy named Rei who plays professional Shogi. As with a lot of the manga I end up reading, I first watched the anime and wanted to see how the story continued after the end of its second season. The mangaka, Chika Umino, has a very unique art style that’s super cute! Her backgrounds are also intricately detailed and help to set the scene of their riverside town.

I’ve already read 12 volumes, and it seems to be ongoing/still publishing, so I’m excited to read more. I’m not actually sure if a third season of the anime is coming, but if not, being able to read the manga filled the void that the end of season 2 left me with. And of course, I would absolutely recommend the anime as well!  (here is my post about the anime)

Chihayafuru

Chihayafuru is about a high school Karuta team, and the story focuses on their captain, Chihaya. The Chihayafuru anime is one of my favorites as well, and while I really enjoy seeing the motions of Karuta in animation form, Yuki Suetsugu’s brilliant illustrations are worth missing out on the action. The anime is what got me into reading the manga, so of course I would recommend it as well (here is my post recommending the anime).

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

Why You Should Watch Anime

If you follow this blog, an anime review blog, it’s pretty likely you watch anime, right? But this post is not directed at you.

Due to recent events, some people have had a lot more time to consume media, and I’ve been seeing folks recommend shows or movies to each other. Which is great! Art is how we get through difficult times. But whenever I recommend a great show that happens to be anime, a lot of my friends won’t even give it a chance because they “don’t like anime”.

In my opinion, it’s pretty ridiculous to outright state that you “don’t like anime”. Of course, there are some reasons that make sense. If you don’t like watching animated stuff at all, then sure, that’s valid. And the art style can definitely be off-putting for folks who are used to western style animation. But that doesn’t seem to be the reason for the majority of people who say they “don’t like anime”.

I’ll admit something about myself: I actually used to think I didn’t like anime! The only anime I knew about as a kid were shows like Dragon Ball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Naruto, and truthfully shonen action doesn’t appeal to me at all. I thought that all anime was like that, because that’s all I ever really heard about. The fact is, there’s anime about literally everything. Any genre of film/tv that exists, there’s an anime version of it. One of my favorite anime is about child prodigy classical musicians, for fuck’s sake.

Another reason why someone might think they won’t like anime is because “it’s too sexual/weird”. And... yeah. Honestly, there is a lot of anime out there that makes me cringe and that I would not want to associate with. But it’s definitely not the majority of anime, and it is very easy to avoid weird or sexual content if that’s not what you’re into. The fact of the matter is, anime is a medium and not a genre. There is something for everyone! If you find yourself adamantly opposing all anime because of these reasons, you might just not be giving it enough of a chance.

That’s not to say that anime is perfect or idealized; obviously, you should be critical of all forms of media. The anime industry in itself is kinda problematic if you look into how some studios treat their employees, and within the actual content of the anime, lots of shows have poor depictions of other races/LGBTQ+ individuals. But hey! Unfortunately, you can say the same exact things about western media, too!

But honestly, anime is great because of its versatility. There’s so much you can do with animation artistically that you can’t do with live action; it’s a great format for more exaggerated movements and action that would look weird or bad if done with CGI. I’m always impressed with the way some anime manage to tell a beautiful story that wouldn’t work in any other medium. (check out Parasyte: the maxim if you want a specific example of this)

Anyway, this is just a short plea to some of you out there who are stubbornly opposed to watching anime. If you give it a chance, you might find something you really enjoy. Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

WYSW: March Comes in like a Lion

**why you should watch**

Another one of my top favorite anime, March Comes in like a Lion is evocative, emotional, and definitely underrated.

I’ll admit, it took me a couple tries to get into this show. I watched the first episode ages ago and it didn’t hook me, but later on I decided to give it another chance, and I am so glad I did.

March Comes in like a Lion or 3-gatsu no Lion is about Rei Kiriyama, a teenager who plays professional competitive shogi. Shogi, if you’re unfamiliar, is usually considered to be the Japanese version of chess. Rei struggles with making connections with others due to his isolated lifestyle, but he eventually befriends a small family who help make his life worth living.

This anime is sometimes compared to another show I love, Chihayafuru, in that they are both about obscure Japanese ‘sports’. But besides that, I can’t really say they have much else in common. Chihayafuru is about the fun and exciting aspects of team sports, but 3-gatsu no Lion is much less about shogi itself and more about how Rei navigates the struggles of his personal life while balancing a professional competitive career.

March Comes in like a Lion does make an effort to teach the viewer the rules of shogi, but the results of the match are much more important than watching the match itself unfold. Playing shogi is Rei’s job; winning matches is how he makes money and it is what allows him to live on his own at age 17. This results in much higher stakes than most anime about sports, because his actual livelihood is at risk if he loses a game.

The characters in 3-gatsu no Lion are all very complex and emotional individuals, some of whom you’ll have a love/hate relationship with. You’ll eventually learn that Rei has a complicated relationship with his family, and his interactions with them can be particularly painful to observe. Luckily, nearly every interaction Rei has with the Kawamoto sisters is wholesome and lovely, and more than makes up for watching him struggle with his family.

I’m making my way through the manga right now, and I love the art style so much! I think the anime does a great job of capturing it, too.

Thanks for reading! Please check out March Comes in like a Lion, the third season is (hopefully) coming soon so make sure you’re caught up in time for that!

-threecheersforinking