Monday 31 March 2014

2013: Things I Loved PART 1



It's that time again. Well actually it's a couple of months after that time again. Time to make my end-of-year countdown list, of things that convinced me not to shoot myself in the head for another year.

Since the list is wordier this year, it'll be split into 2 parts. You can also check out the list of things I liked last year.

Below the cut is PART 1 of my favourite things of 2013:



10. Little Witch Academia



While the internet slobbers over the unwatchably gross Kill La Kill, here's a cute and light-hearted animated short by the same group of animators.

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9. Fire Emblem: Awakening


Before the Wii-U, everyone ganged up on Nintendo's 3DS handheld as being a failure. I think opinions started to change when this game was released, and for good reason. It's easily the high-mark of a franchise spanning more than two decades, improving the series' turn-based strategy gameplay in ways I never expected. As much as I like previous games, I don't think I'd want to go back. It also helps that it has the strongest cast and the sharpest character dialogue I think I've seen in a Nintendo product.

I don't know where the series could go from here, but if this is the last game in the Fire Emblem series, at least it went out big.

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8. Attack On Titan




I'll admit, my interest in this show has waned a little. It drags, the titans are sometimes unintentionally funny, and it stopped killing off any important characters fairly early on, which was a big part of the appeal. But the wait to see what happened next was still as intense an experience I can remember. I don't always like anime, but I have to stick around see what happens next.

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7. Oh Joy, Sex Toy!



Erika Moen reviews sex toys, and even covers sex education topics. In her sensible, plain-spoken language she makes icky or scary subjects into something understandable. This is something public education in most countries can spend millions of dollars on trying to do and still fail at.

I think it goes without saying that it's NSFW. But if you've ever had questions you are too embarrassed or ashamed to ask, if anyone's got the answers it's her.

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6. Hammock: Oblivion Hymns




Apparently there's this band called "Hammock", and they deal exclusively in making music for the part of the movie where, in a zombie apocalypse, the main character has to shoot his dog.

I had no idea I had such an appetite for that sound. Their work has helped shape the tone and the nature of a piece of writing that has dogged me for some time now. Their newest album might not be the feather in their cap, but it's still music I am strangely drawn to.

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Part 2 can be found here.


END OF LINE

~A.H.

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