5 More Anime Guilty Pleasures

On By YomuIn Blog Posts, Lists

Let’s get some more anime guilty pleasures in here, because a big one just came to me. I’m actually guilty of it as we speak! You may remember that I’ve written a post like this before…

Although re-reading it, I don’t feel really guilty about anything I wrote there. So I feel like I should double down with some TRUE guilty pleasures here!

#5. Antagonistic Soft Spot

This one is no secret, at least if you’ve read various posts of mine, you may have read me voice this before. I tend to have a real soft spot for antagonists. There’s a reason the turncoat trope is one of my favourites in anime!

The gist of this is that many times I find myself appreciating an antagonist more than the protagonist, often because the antagonist feels more real or unapologetic. If a protagonist feels too bland, or happy-go-lucky, or average, oftentimes I find myself appreciating the antagonist much more. Even if they are evil, or have bad intentions.

And I feel like the industry often realizes this, which is why the turncoat trope is so common. Many times the antagonist is just as interesting or even more interesting than the protagonist, and so them joining the main cast just feels like a boon to the series.

A couple great antagonists are Kaiki Deishuu and Kurumi Tokisaki.

#4. Death in Anime

This one is simple enough: there are many moments where I enjoy death in anime, or would like to see MORE death incorporated into a story. There are a few reasons, such as because I just don’t like the protagonist or a certain character, or because I think that the anime is too happy-go-lucky overall and could use a little more grit and shock value to spice things up.

Perfect example of this is from Arifureta, where for the last several episodes I was actively wishing that Hajime’s classmates would die in a conflict they found themselves in closer to the end of the anime. The anime was just such a mixed bag in terms of… everything. So I was hoping for some deaths to spice things up. Maybe that’d make things worse to some people, but in my eyes if the ship is sinking may as well resort to extreme measures right?

And it’s not just Arifureta, there are many other times where I think that a death would have been appropriate but the anime just bails a character out instead, which can kill the shock / tension. I guess some people enjoy that feeling of “Oh thank goodness he’s actually alive!” but oftentimes that feeling kills the excitement for me, instead leaving me thinking “Yeah of course they wouldn’t let him die, go figure”.

This is one reason why I like Akame ga Kill! so much, because it pulls no punches, which feels much more appropriate considering the setting. I also loved Claymore for similar reasons, and Kaiji too.

In the end it just depends on the anime, but there are many where I feel like a more liberal usage of death in the story could really improve things. And of course sometimes there’s too much death… like an anime I’ll be posting a review for in the future!

#3. Panty Shots

So last guilty pleasure post I mentioned ecchi, but let’s get more specific here. Panty shots are a premium commodity, or at least they can be. See, you can watch almost ANY anime and there’ll be at least one gal sporting some large breasts. Even shounen doesn’t shy away from that, with One Piece and Fairy Tail as prime examples.

But panty shots, well those are much more rare. You can go through entire anime without seeing them, because they are much more heavily restricted to fan service focused anime. To me this just makes me want to see them that much more. If I go through multiple series without seeing any panty shots, I kid you not I get a shot of happiness when I finally see one.

It’s a little odd because I never used to really care or even look for them. But I’ve found the more anime I watch, the more I notice when something is or isn’t there. And this just happens to have become one of those things. Bonus points if its a panty shot in a non-ecchi anime where you simply wouldn’t have expected one!

What can I say…

#2. Unapologetic Anime

Part of this might be attached to my tendencies to hate what has become of Western media and how politics and other topics have managed to crawl into shows, movies, and games, but I definitely have to say that I appreciate an unapologetic anime. Essentially, I appreciate when an anime does something the West would deem “politically incorrect”.

I feel like unapologeticism… is that a word? It is now. Just like with antagonists IN anime, I appreciate this quality OUT of anime too. Because these days, there’s just too much of people caving to popular demand, caving to society, caving to a handful of angry people… We need more unapologeticism out there. It’s like people aren’t allowed to stand firm in their beliefs anymore.

Anyways, this is why I appreciate anime that do just that, and rattle the gears of angry people in the West. Shield Hero was the latest big one I think, although maybe there’s been another since then. Goblin Slayer was another big one. And then before that there was Darling in the FranXX… there’s always something.

And I appreciate that. It’s funny how we’re encouraged to push boundaries, but we’re only allowed to push them in ONE direction. Well, I for one appreciate when ideas are explored in ALL directions. It’s just fiction after all, no one is physically being harmed by an anime story! If you don’t like what you see in an anime, then move onto another one. There’s plenty of anime to go around.

#1. Caramelldansen

Yep. This is my ultimate guilty pleasure. It’s not even Japanese, it’s Swedish. But technically it’s in an anime style, so you bet I’m including it here. After all, I basically only wrote this entire post just so I could share this song.

It may be a meme song for many, but personally, I just really like the song. And the video of course. What a great video, doesn’t it just fill you with happy energy?

And the Swedish version is the best version. Sorry if you prefer the English version, but here on this blog we officially acknowledge the superiority of the Swedish original. Don’t even try to convince me otherwise, I’m too invested at this point.

And that does it for my Anime Guilty Pleasures 2.0.
I feel like these are more “guilty” than my last post, which means I’ve accomplished my goal here.

Anyone share these guilty pleasures?
Or have additional guilty pleasures to share?

I would love to chat about it in the comments!

Until next time,
Thanks for reading.

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23 thoughts on “5 More Anime Guilty Pleasures”

    1. Thigh high socks is a good one, definitely one we need more of. Maids and cat girls are luckily common enough. Fox girls seem too similar to cat girls for me to note much of a difference. And violent tsundere? Now there’s a real guilty pleasure haha.

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    1. Looks interesting haha.

      On the flip side I think that too many panty shots in an anime can ruin the fun. Sort of like how seeing the same anime character’s boobs shown off for 12 episodes straight in an ecchi anime can get stale. There’s definitely a golden ratio to be had.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yep… and even own a copy of one of the OVA’s on CD. (It was in a $1/disk bin at a con…) But for all it’s flaws, Najica at least _tries_ to have a comprehensible plot.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Absolutely agreed on #2. If an anime or game is angering western journalists or certain people are acting pissy about it on Twitter, I’m several times more likely to check it out. I wonder how many more fans of these works such people have accidentally created.

    I also like how Kaiji kills characters for good without reservation. It wouldn’t really fit with the themes of the show if nobody died anyway.

    As for my guilty pleasures, I guess catgirls. And those busty fox ladies with nine tails who hang around heaven smoking pipes and being lazy. I’ve seen these kinds of characters in a few different series now, so I have to believe that’s a real thing now.

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    1. If anything it’s probably a good marketing strategy to push some boundaries! I’m definitely more likely to check something like that out too.

      I guess the anime medium lends itself to more a more cutesy / happy tone, so truly dark and gritty tones just seem so rare and refreshing. I know dark anime have always been out there, but tend to get lost among the shounen, ecchi / harem, slice of life / comedy, and all that.

      And catgirls + fox girls huh. I don’t mind either but feel like neither has been really explored much further than just basically being a fashion accessory of ears + tail.

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      1. For the most part I think they aren’t explored that much, but I liked how Nekopara treated its catgirl characters as sort of cat-like, even though they’re still way more human.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Ah, someone else who likes good villains as well! For me this is not just limited to anime but certain other Western animations too; my favorite of them being Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Ended up cosplaying him at conventions for two years as well 😊

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  7. “Because these days, there’s just too much of people caving to popular demand, caving to society, caving to a handful of angry people…”

    Want the best proof that (at least in the US) the left/right paradigm is a farce that’s designed to divide people?

    Look no father than this. Both “sides” want the same kind of control in art/media/social expression. Same danged thing.

    I’d love to see Japanese animation remain Japanese. That’s one of the things I like about it.

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    1. I agree it’s a farce, but mostly on the part of the politicians. They’re all just that, politicians. Bunch of liars and useful idiots that say whatever it takes to get their next paycheck.

      I think that on the individual level there still are ideological differences that we have to acknowledge, from people who want everything for “free” to people who want the government to basically not exist.

      But yeah, overall I agree. Doesn’t matter who you vote for, it’s all just a farce in the end. Regardless who you vote for, politicians win. Which means everyone else loses.

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      1. “I agree it’s a farce, but mostly on the part of the politicians.”

        I wish that were it. Then I could point to a small group of people and say, with confidence, that they are the problem.

        One horrible fact that recent years have jammed in my face is that the politicians are there because we, the people, put the, there. We listen to their lies; we eagerly consume their propaganda.

        And we vote them into office.

        It’s our fault. We did this to us.

        And there’s exactly zero we can do about it.

        I really need to stop listening to Pink Floyd…

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Nah you’re completely right about that. People en masse are stupid, and so while democracy can work, it’s becoming more and more clear that mass media and propaganda are destroying it as people’s opinions are becoming more and more manufactured and manipulated.

        Politicians take advantage of that too, because their “political campaign” is nothing more than an advertising campaign. And the barrier for new parties is so high that we’re only ever limited to a couple options, which isn’t very democratic in the end. Like in the US it’s basically a “democratic duopoly”, which is not democratic at all. Basically goes back to what you were saying about it all being a farce, which it is.

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  8. Pingback: Guilty Pleasures! (Sunday Sevens) - The Otaku Author

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