Kate Goes to Japan: Posts from the Week of 02/20/16

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narutaki_icon_4040 That’s right! I’m going on my very first trip to Japan! Of course, it isn’t until May 2016. But that isn’t very far away when you are an over-organized traveler like myself. So I’ve decided to spin all my research (and insanity) into something at least a bit productive: a tumblr. You can follow me as I discover sights to visit, discuss trains and otaku culture, find the best places to eat, and plan all the other the details of my trip. If you don’t want to check-in on tumblr, I’ll be posting links on Fridays here on Reverse Thieves for all the posts I’ve made during the week.

Train Bento, Ekiben
Special Stamps
Lucky Charms, Omamori

~ kate

Cowboy Bebop Rewatch Podcast Session #28: You’re Gonna Carry That Weight (final)

As Cowboy Bebop has become this evergreen ambassador of anime, we decided to go back and re-watch the show now that is has gotten a beautiful Blu-ray box set. Every week we will share our memories and then re-evaluate these stories with 16 years of experience and distance. Which episodes are just as we remember, which have major flaws, and which have aged like a fine wine. At the same time, we will also look back on the music, cultural references, and holistic connections contained within each episode. Plus, we will judge if there in an appropriate amount of Ein.

Does Cowboy Bebop hold up as a classic or was its reputation all a dream? Let’s rewatch Cowboy Bebop together and find out!

Session #28

Mysterious Heroine X Assassination Note: How Many Sabers Are There? (Update #4)

hisui_icon_4040 I decided to finally do it. I would try to catalog all the various Saber variants there are. The fact that there are more and more variants of Artoria Pendragon has gone from a few different versions of the main heroine to a running joke that has had an official term for characters who look like Artoria: Saberface. In Fate/Grand Order there are units whose whole gimmick revolves around doing more damage to Saberfaced characters, certain characters will target Saberfaced characters, and there was even a whole event centered around Saberfaces.

All of this attention is clearly because Saber is a popular character but it has also engendered an equal amount of resentment for all the focus the Saberfaces have gotten. As a major aficionado of Saber, I decided to catalog how many Sabers there are. I went to all the different version of Sabers as well as the different costumes those characters have.

As always a few caveats on any list I make:

1. I am pretty much purposely invoking Cunningham’s Law here. I am almost surely missing an official iteration or two. I plan to update this list whenever I get the chance so new additions are always welcome.

2. I realize some of these are the same character in different outfits. The main thing is that over time some iterations of Saber in costume have become characters in their own right. Lily Saber and Saber Bride are 100% this case in action. Therefore I have just decided to make all different versions their own thing but readily admit that this list could easily be condensed.

Let’s see how bad this really is.

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