HardDoor--The Fourth Anniversary

Four years. Hard to believe it has only been four years since starting HardDoor, a little blog about anime and boxing (and bits of randomness). Since June 26, 2006, it's been quite the time and new additions have come along the way, such as Decade's Best and the Free/Low-Cost Anime Directory & Guide (or just "The Directory" for short, and don't forget about the monthly picks!), and special pieces like the current "Blacks and Head Shots in Anime". Every anniversary, I like to reveal a little bit behind HardDoor's background or introduce a new feature, but this year's a little different, since I already revealed it a month early!

HD's Twitter page has been a great complement to the site, celebrating its own one-month anniversary today. It has really filled that void of keeping things up-to-date and providing commentary on things as they happen, even trivial ones, without having to post a bunch of entries each time. It's a simple, yet very neat service that fits the site well, but that's not the only thing going on on HD. The aforementioned special piece "Blacks and Head Shots in Anime" is entering its final stretch with the last part coming up, with the first installment of this year's Decade's Best edition following soon after (I was originally aiming to have it start today, but the former has taken more time than expected). There is also the Directory's much-needed revamping, and then...well, I'll keep that one under wraps... ;)

Here's to four and more!!!! :D

--HD

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Glass Fleet

Glass Fleet

Official Sites: Japanese, English
Additional Links: ANN Entry
Video [Free]: English Dubbed

For HardDoor's anniversary month, what better way to celebrate the occasion than with a free anime selection? And the pick for this month is...Glass Fleet!

...Wait, what?

:anime: Blacks and Head Shots in Anime (Part 6)

<--To Part 5 | Part 7 (Final)-->

(Note: As earlier, because these cases not only involve the death(s) of a particular character(s), but can also delve deep into a show's storyline, naturally spoilers will be involved. Also, most of the titles covered are either for older teen or mature audiences.)

With the pattern of dark-skinned characters in anime being shot in the head, the focus has primarily been on five cases, as well as any common traits found among them, such as being "traitors" and having monstrous transformations. However, there have been a few instances where they have been involved in scenes that may have involved elements of head-related deaths or injuries, but not as overt as the cases given. While these are not as major, they are rather interesting in their own right and worth a mention.