Digital Roses atop the Anisphere

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other pseudonym would smell as sweet;

Names, quite simply, are the labels by which we refer to objects. Though these objects might be inanimate, or non-sentient life such as a flower, they are mostly associated with people. These names can be arbitrary, or descriptive. The latter obvious in English surnames; inspired by the bearer’s profession or personal characteristics, alternatively patronymic or matronymic, or even an indication of one’s estate. As such, a surname will hold as much importance as the family and individual that bears it.

Then what of pseudonyms? Noms de plume are often created to be worn as masks for the internet. They act as a defence, or as a shield, but also impart presence, and perhaps existence itself, online. Yet, can they be said to hold as much weight, bestow as much meaning, or bear as much importance as those we use, shuffling along this mortal coil?

Words Usually Mean Things. This Is Less Debatable Than You Think.

[Trigger warnings: rape, rape culture]

Among the controversies du jour is one troublesome line from the recently-aired Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. The original line, 「動くな。騒ぐと犯す」, was rendered in Crunchyroll’s translation as “No funny moves. Make one peep and I rape you.” If, in fact, that is what he said, this is a very shocking line indeed. But here’s the thing.

That is what he said.

This is not open for interpretation.

The primary male love interest in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun threatened the protagonist with sexual violence.

The average anime fan with a dog in this fight tends to vastly over-rate either their Japanese literacy, their understanding of how language works, or both, so I’ll take this from the very top.

In A World Of My Own: The Anisphere Beyond The Kitchen Window

[Insert witty quote here in desperate attempt to link picture with post.]

Suppose you glance at Twitter. What, pray, do you see?

It will most likely be your timeline; with its short textual messages reaching desperately towards the bottom of the screen.

Within this, a reply is relatively easy to spot, and its context easily understood by expanding the conversation. From time to time, however, one might see a reply that is not so average. A tweet, perhaps initially seeming a non sequitur and without the characteristic mention at the beginning, that is nevertheless a reply.

These fascinate me for a number of reasons. One of which is that they offer a glimpse of another’s timeline. A peek into another’s world.

Colloquium: Anime We Would Really Like to See

I expect the storyboard on my desk by next Tuesday.

tiboreau: Last week We Remember Love aniblogger Ghostlightning challenged his readers with an ultimatum. Don’t like some of the anime that airs each season? Well, what type of anime would you like to see—and be creative! Inspired by both the challenge and Ghostlightning’s own creative anime concoction, a few of Altair & Vega‘s writers were motivated to share their own anime concepts. We hope you enjoy!

The Ani-sphere All Atwitter

Twitter is an intriguing beast. It is one of the two dominant social networks found on today’s internet, and at its simplest, offers one the ability to broadcast one’s thoughts to other people. Admittedly anywhere on the internet is now wont to do this, however, twitter’s defining trait lies in its limit of 140 characters per post. One could perhaps argue it a social network centred about brevity.

Having such a limitation, presumably it can be dismissed? Not worthy of one’s attention?