HardDoor@15

Fifteen years.

It is hard to believe anything Internet-related to be fifteen years-old. AOL discs and Infoseek still feel like just a few months ago! So it feels equally-unbelievable that it has been 15 years to the day that I decided to start this blog centered around anime, boxing, and a little bit of randomness. And here we are, 466 posts of anime and boxing previews, reviews, features, guides, and more later.

Unfortunately, I haven't been anywhere close to as active as I would've liked to have been in the last five years, and I truly thought, this time, I was back on-track a year ago, but life matters, other matters, and time flying by said otherwise (one of those matters being the existential dread of having to talk about an anime I really did not want to relive again, which I'll attempt to discuss in the future. "Attempt…").

I've been keeping tabs on HardDoor: Screenshot Haven (tumblr) and trying to get back into Twitter (HardDoor~Live, still something of a tentative title…Facebook's HardDoor+ even moreso…), but I yearn to accomplish more than what I've done. I am unsure of what I exactly want to do, but will hopefully have a better idea in the future…

Happy 15th Anniversary, HardDoor!!

(Man, that really does sound weird to say…)

--HD

HardDoor--The Fourteenth Anniversary: Ani-Journal Edition!!

I would add a screenshot from the actual movie of A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi), but Netflix, like the Blu-ray Disc Association, hates that sort of thing. So we'll just settle for this one from the ED MV special from…elsewhere…

It's the fourteenth anniversary of HD, so I thought, why not switch things up a bit and do a return of Ani-Journal in commemoration, instead!! Being that it's been six years since the last one, and the first substantive post in four, this'll likely be the first installment of a few. So, without further(more) waste, let's go!!

—While I have yet to see your name. (Kimi no Na wa.), it was not very hard to see why In This Corner of the World (Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni) won as many accolades as it did, eventually usurping the megahit in award season (not that coming out later and being a folksy movie didn't hurt…). It did a great job conveying the everyday life of rural Japan and the concerning undercurrents around WWII, and the inevitable perils that came. It did this by focusing almost solely on Japanese life, and not revisionism or nationalism (perhaps one latter scene has a whiff, but it is understandable in context). It also (thankfully) did not fall into the trap of emotional manipulation, even though it would be quite easy to with the material (though some may disagree, which is understandable). The style and mastery of the storytelling meant events felt more natural, making them feel more effectual in the end. Common, everyday life in wartime isn't usually covered in films, unfortunately, but ITCotW really did it and its story justice.

HardDoor--The Thirteenth Anniversary

While the main blog side of HardDoor hasn't seen much action in something-something years, Screenshot Haven and ~Live have, and I did not want to go any longer without formally wishing HD a happy anniversary—its thirteenth!!! So: Happy Anniversary, HardDoor!!

But, "~Live"? And "HardDoor+"? That's another discussion for another day, among a number of other things…

…I hope…

…Stay tuned… 🤞

But, let us just enjoy the good of today… 😊

'Til next time…

—HD

Wishes for the New Year…

My New Year Wishes…

—To have the time to be able to regularly post here again…

—To able to watch less politics and more anime. *shakes fist at ever-breaking news*

—To finish that Anime Pick special…

—To keep abreast better (better abreast?) on when boxing is on (which is seemingly everywhere now…so much for a "dead sport"…).

—That x fighter or anime better be worthwhile for everything everybody says about them/it…

—To able to always watch as much of HBO Boxing in High Definition and with SAP on.

—For more la la larks…

—To get more into manga. (# Read & Finished This Year: 1 (scum's wish; which was quite good…))

—To not fall asleep on supposedly "exciting" bouts…

—To get…through…at least…an 1/8…of that streaming anime backlog…



To a hopefully more active 2018…


—HD

The Grand Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Journal!!

The 2016 Summer Olympics, held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, came in with great controversy—much of it warranted—and left…without (much) controversy. While there were empty seats for events for various reasons (though less prevalent over time and closer to final events), a police shooting, misbehavior of some athletes and coaches (not an unusual occurrence), and a busted bathroom courtesy of one famous swimmer, there was no apocalyptic outbreak of viruses and diseases, nor was egg on the face of Rio organizers or the IOC. It was not a flawless Games, in execution, but it appeared to be handled as well as it possible, given everything. In terms of athletics and competition, however, it was one of the very best, with a healthy mix of masterclasses and upsets.

:anime: The After-Review:: Pan de Peace!

Like a charm…

(Click here for the preceding review!)

The After-Review: Pan de Peace!

Welcome all to the second-ever "after-review" at HardDoor! If you are wondering what an "after-review" is, it is basically the equivalent of an "after-party" for a review, where things are less formal, I shoot-the-breeze a bit, and delve into matters that either didn't make the review or were too spoiler-ish. There is no true format or decorum, and we just might drift off-topic, but it's all good!

We've got ourselves a bread party going on here (the best kind of party), so grab a plate, and some of that fancy-tasting cheese, and let's have some nice, peaceful (mostly) wholesome fun!!

:anime: Final Impression:: Pan de Peace!

Give the gift…The gift of bread…

[Also July's Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick!]

Review: Pan de Peace!

Additional Links: Official Site, ANN Entry, MAL Entry
Video {Free [Streaming]}: Crunchyroll

There is no way to read the description for Pan de Peace! and not think of it as the final, lowest marker in the depths of the "cute girls in a high-school club"/"cute-girls-doing-cute-things" sub-genre, popularized by K-ON's "light-music" focused group, among others. In the cramped vastness of "show/club (often barely) revolving around n" and the ever-prevalent "me, too" mentality, a title about four girls in a bread-lovers club feels almost as if one has reached the absolute limit of workable potential within the concept, akin to one reaching the end of time or the Internet.

Surely, no one would ever bother animating such as title, lest they be so plainly desperate. No matter how short its runtime, there could be no real reason for its existence, correct?

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Not As Advertised…

Last time, we focused on anime that, at first glance, seemed certain to be horrible, but turned out to be better than expected. This time around, we'll be tweaking the focus a bit and looking at shows that plain looked uninteresting, not worth anticipating, or just "more of the same". Just as one might be compelled to ignore a short that looks bad, who would want to spend a whole cour (12-13 episodes, or roughly a season's length (i.e. summer, winter)) watching something they are not interested in or think they have seen countless times elsewhere? Well, it can pay to take a step forward (or two)…

HardDoor--The **Tenth** Anniversary!!

 

457 posts. 3 social networking pages. 1 screenshot haven. 1 free anime directory. Thousands of pageviews. A number of specials. 3.5 designs. 3 logos (or 4, if you count the title banner). And 10 years later…

Nine times have I come and commemorated this day, giving a little tidbit about the blog, maybe a state of affairs, and giving you, the reader, my genuine thanks. I have had many things to talk about, many anime to spotlight, many matches to analyze, and a slew of items to preview and review on two of my favorite interests, coupled here in what I have come to internally call "the chicken & waffle house of the internet". I've had more than a few pictures to share, fun nights live blogging, things that I've written that I've been happy about and others I've self-critiqued to no end (more than a few times, it was very same piece!). I've done things I never thought I'd do, like have a Twitter account or even a tumblr, even moonlight a time or two. I have wrestled about whether to write about this first or post "that other one" later; scrutinizing and proofreading a lengthy post or just a simple message multiple times over; have a free flow of thought one time and long, pondering sessions leading to just a few sentences others; and sometimes, maybe not a whole lot of time or resources to write and do what I've truly wanted to do or go with something.

:anime: Free/Low-Cost Anime Pick of the Month:: Not Too Shabby, Shorties…

[Post Date: May 31, Actual Post Date: June 27. Spent much of May updating, upgrading, and setting up three computers with Windows 10, respectively. Spent much of June dealing with the ramifications of getting little sleep and having a slew of other things to do/come up. Slightly better now, still haven't got an appropriate amount of sleep. Wait, what's "sleep" again…?]

As much as the practice gets derided, and as much as people attempt not to, everyone, in some form or another and likely more than a few times, has "judged a book by its cover". Even when one tries to keep an open mind and be fair, that quick bolt of suspicion can strike faster than one's better discernment. Sometimes, that instinct can prove correct, but other times, the end results may yield an exact opposite reaction.