Looks like we’re famous now! According to blog.feedspot.com; which reviews and selects various blogs from around the globe to be a part of their Top 100 selection each year, ya bois at D&A Anime Blog have made it to their top 100 selection in the Anime Blog Division! Right now we’re ranked as the 39th (now 38th) most popular blog in the world, and we honestly couldn’t have done it without the love and support of our fans! We also saw a few of our anime blogger fans on the list as well, so we also wanna congratulate them for being selected and contributing to the anime community. If you guys run an anime blog and wanna make next year’s Top 100 list, be sure to head over to blog.feedspot.com and submit your blog’s name. (Or if you wanna check out where we ranked, you can click this link: Feedspot’s Top 100 Anime Blogs.) Until next post, we thank you guys from the bottom of our hearts for helping to make this happen! 🙂
We’re gonna be honest; the past two weeks have been rather hectic to say the least. Now that the “Black Friday” madness is over (along with any leftovers we still have), we can focus our energy into doing what we do best; bringing you more anime-filled, nerdy content. Our Youtube podcast Nerdz of the Decade returns with brand new episodes starting this weekend, and we pick up where we left off on Fena: Pirate Princess next Monday with A Founder’s Review with D.J. Lewis. As far as when we might be going back to conventions, we’re scouting some cons that we can attend, and we’ll keep you updated if we plan on going to any. As always we thank you guys for all of the love and support that you’ve given us, and we will continue to return the favor by giving you guys the best nerdy content that we can provide.
That’s it for our update, so until next post, stay nerdy! 😉
So it’s that time of the year again; the holiday between Halloween and Christmas where everyone’s trying to find the right sized turkey, booking flights out of state to visit loved ones when they couldn’t do it last year, and waiting outside in 30-below weather for blockbuster deals on any and every electronic device out here today. Yep, it’s Thanksgiving once again, and more than half of America is happy that they can see the people they couldn’t see last year. When it comes to National ‘Leave No Turkey Un-feathered’ day, the meal pretty much consists of the usual suspects; candy yams, mac ‘n cheese, sweet potato pie (or pumpkin pie), greens, and that one dish from your ‘newly-vegan’ cousin. I know you’ve heard it a million-and-one times before, but the last 21 months have been absolutely crazy!
Race in America has been one of the biggest issues that we’re still dealing with as a country, and proof of that comes on the heels of two of the biggest racially-defining trials since the George Floyd case. Honestly when it came down to the verdicts of both cases, one of the takeaways I’ve gotten is the fact that we’ve got some serious soul searching to do – as humans. It still rattles my brain that in the span of taking one year off from our busy lives due to a life-changing event; half of America has lost their sense of empathy, compassion, patience, and understanding.
With an event of this magnitude effecting every aspect of human life, you would think that we would come together as a collective (not to say that most of us aren’t), but the level of division among this country in terms of politics, race, and opinions is still at an all-time high. Many people have accepted who people really are and no longer associate themselves with them, while others have lost their faith in humanity; leaving some to try and help persevere it in some way, shape, or form. Which is why this Thanksgiving; one of the things I’m the most thankful for is my sanity, my family, and keeping good people with good vibes around me.
Hopefully you guys are with your loved ones this holiday, and for those who’ve lost a loved one to COVID-19 or any other serious illness last year (or even this year), I pray that God gives you comfort through this season. Take care and love one another.
Hey guys. We know it’s been awhile since our last post, as things have been kinda melancholy as of late. If you haven’t noticed by now, we haven’t been posting any new episodes of our Nerdz of the Decade podcast. That’s not to say that we’ve stopped making them, its just right now we’re working on new topics that are a little more relevant to what new developments are happening. In the meantime we’ve been trying out this little experiment called Anime Quickie; a one man short-form podcast featuring A. Goldman that pretty much talks about similar topics that you’ve might have heard us talk about on the podcast. If this experiment gets a little more traffic, then we might incorporate it as part of our D&A Studios lineup. As always we thank you guys so much for being a part of our nerdy little journey, and we plan on bringing you guys the best nerdy content that we can offer! Until next post, stay nerdy! 😉
So here we are just six weeks away from 2022, and it’s pretty obvious that going through a world-changing experience (like the pandemic) really makes you think about where you see yourself in the near-future. Though we’re still dealing with the effects of the ‘obvious state of the world’, things are slowly coming back to normal. For the last 20 months or so, no anime fan on Earth though anime conventions would come back in-person; but not only did most of them return in the flesh, but fans have returned to their favorite nerd sanctuaries fully-vaxxed with their cards, and their masks. With that in mind, what’s next for D&A in the year 2022?
We’ve been wingin’ it all year
Just this past Summer we’ve launched our YouTube podcast known as “Nerdz of the Decade” as well as our product reviewing series through D&A Studios. With things they way they are now, we find ourselves in a state where we feel as though we want to reignite that fire and that passion that D&A has given us! Sure, the last 20 months have kept us away from conventions and seeing our fans and super fans in the flesh, as well as test us to see if we want to continue D&A. For many of us who run conventions; said owners and staff had to make announcements that they will be closing the doors of their cons due to financial loss because of the pandemic, while others had to rely on ‘GoFundMe’ pages or downsize just to stay afloat. This past weekend our home convention in Baltimore, Maryland known as “Animore” had to shut down and disband because of financial loss. The news cut us deeply because D&A’s level of popularity and exposure in the convention circuit, would’ve never gotten off the ground had it not been for this convention.
Though we’re not sure what will take its place (or if even anything anime-related will take its place), we will always cherish the memories that Animore has given us as well as all of the awesome people that we’ve met. Receiving this news got us thinking about the current state of D&A and what we wanna do moving forward. We don’t really make a lot of money doing what we do, and any money that can be made is through merch sales (which we’re working on), content monetization (which doesn’t bring in as much as you think on YouTube unless you’ve got 100,000+ subs), and affiliate links. Despite this, we’re not ones to give up and walk away that easily; and will continue to give you guys awesome nerdy content through the blog, as well as on YouTube.
As far as our return to cons go, we will be returning to them towards the second quarter of 2022, and we’ll make sure that we keep a list of which ones we’ll be attending in the coming months.
That will do it for this special announcement, but there’s more content coming so stay tuned! 😉
Isekai, Ecchi, Harem. It seems like every season we get a fist full of anime titles from those three genres, and in some cases those titles might even be a combination of all three. For many fans they’re not surprised and for others, well, they’re happy that they now have new potential ‘waifu’ material. (Or ‘husbando’, we’re equal opportunity!) Over the last decade (and maybe a handful of years) we’ve seen this trend of shows with more fanservice in the ‘T&A’ department, and less attention paid to plot or character development. With this trend came a lot of rants on social media (or ‘anitwitter’ as some of us are calling it) about the over-saturation of fanservice from Isekai, Ecchi, and Harem. Although we have our own opinions about those three genres, we’ve decided to channel the ‘frustrations’ of said fans who’ve ranted about this semi-controversial topic, through a comedic pathway.
Keep in mind that the new segment we’re working on bringing to you bounces between TV-14 and TV-MA; which is also the television ratings for a lot of the titles that are labeled Ecchi or Harem. The name of our new segment is called “Poetic Rants From Comedic Circumstance”. We basically poke fun at the Isekai, Harem, and Ecchi genres leaving no stone un-turned when it comes to their tropes; some of which you’re sick of, and some you can’t live without. Also keep in mind that these are just jokes; as there are pockets of individuals within the dark corners of anime fandom, that will burst a blood vessel cuz’ we dissed their waifus. The new segment kicks off on the first Monday in January 2022!
That’s it for our announcement, so until our next post, stay nerdy my friends! 😉
Hey guys n’ gals! It’s time to bring you another recap of our YouTube videos that we’ve done during the week of November 5th. We’ve got a brand new Nerdz of the Decade that just dropped this past Friday, as well as another D&A Studios product review. Be sure to share these videos with your fellow otaku, and of course we thank you for all of the love and support that you continue to give us from the blog; as well as D&A Studios. Until next post, stay nerdy my friends! 😉
Okay, the time has come for me to give you another episode review from Fena: Pirate Princess. After watching this episode first hand, it appears that the secret of the glass stone has finally been revealed. Now that that revelation has come to pass, what will that mean for Fena and the crew?
So it looks like as the episode kicks off I (the viewer) discover that Yukihisa and Kei are talking about a witch’s spell placed on Yukimaru, but knowing how these types of situations go down, I (the viewer) don’t find out until the last three episodes of the series. The voyage continues with Fena and the crew as she focuses on the map given to her by the Berger mister after leaving the place that I cannot even pronounce the name to. They eventually end up going to another island full of various holes and pathways leading to some kind of underground mine, but sadly they’re not alone, for another crew of pirates (the same ones from Bar-Barel) followed close behind them.
Other than Karin getting spooked and pissed off at Enju for spooking her inside the mine, the rest of the episode gets a little more serious. As they get deep into the mine Fena starts acting a little strange; as if she’s been in the area before, causing Yukimaru to become curious and confused at the same time. The crew reaches a vast area where just in the middle of it was what looked to be the area where the glass brick fits right in. After that the crew discovers that the little scratches were actually coordinates to another location which was later revealed to be El Dorado, however by the time they figured that out, the other pirates showed up and held Fena hostage while taking the coordinates for themselves.
As a way to add insult to injury, they took several boxes of explosives and used them to blow up the only way in and out of the cavern. By the end of the episode Tsubaki was still on the ship not knowing what happened…
Looks like the fun and games are over for the moment as the plot is starting to pick up. Though we now know what the clear stone was used for, there’s still so much we don’t know about Fena; or why the other pirates kidnapped her and are on their way to El Dorado. Guess we’ll find all of that out on the next episode.
Hey there! It appears that I’ve been summoned to give you another episode review from Fena: Pirate Princess. If that’s the case, then I’ll go ahead and do just that for you guys. Fena and the crew continue their voyage on the path to finding out the mystery of the stone; which is the name of the title of this episode. Anyway, let’s go!
Fena and the crew are out at sea looking for the island of “Adenopenstein” as Kaede called it (even though that’s not the real name, but I can’t spell or pronounce it either so we’re just gonna call it what Kaede called it). While inside Fena had just finished treating Yukimaru’s wounds and stated that she’ll do everything she can to be more useful to the team. Yukimaru’s response to that was pretty much a “Hell no, you almost got me killed!” type of response, while she argued that no matter how opposed he was to this decision, that Fena was GOING to be useful to the crew!
Later on Shiton joined Fena on the deck of the ship as she asked if he would train her on how to use a weapon. Shiton handed her his bow and arrow, but just like before, she sucked at it. She then asked other members of the crew to train her on how to use a weapon, but they all declined in comedic fashion. Eventually the crew came around and helped train Fena on how to use a sword and gun (thanks to Shiton), although the training sessions were brutal. (Hopefully Fena will get better at combat in later episodes…hopefully.)
After a day or two the crew finally makes it to “Adenopenstein” (as Kaede called it) as Fena asks the locals if they know anything about the stone. Although it appeared as they weren’t getting the answer they were looking for, a woman named Arya appeared and introduced herself to Yukimaru and the others. She saw the stone and told them that she might know of a person in the village that can help, and that person turned out to be her father; the Berger mister of the village. While on the hike it looked as if Yukimaru was getting a little too chatty with Arya thanks to the twins reading too much into the conversation taking place, and leaving Fena to think that Arya might be hitting on Yukimaru. (And she was starting to believe it thanks to the twins.)
Arya’s father took a look at the stone and it appeared that it was made in the village, but something about it seemed strange. Although it appeared that it was carved in the village, it was commissioned by someone else; someone who was killed five years after the inscribed date of the stone. By the end of the episode Fena told Yukimaru that the person Arya’s father was referring to, she was called that name before…
So it looks like we’re given more information about the stone, and based on the plot progression of the story, this piece of info will play a big part later on in the series. Could there be a connection between Fena and the person Arya’s father mentioned while in “Adenopenstein” (as Kaede called it)? Guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it!
Anyway that’s it for my review on this episode, until next time, stay nerdy! 😉
Salutations fellow otaku! I have returned with another episode review from the original series; Fena: Pirate Princess. Now that the gang has a ship and has set sail, it’s time for the real adventure to begin! So let’s get to it!
The third episode kicks off with Fena walking through the chambers of the newly crafted ship thanks to Karin’s design; of course a little comical banter between the two occurred when Fena made a comment about the ship’s corridor being too small. (I like keeping the spoilers to a minimum so if you want the full deets you’ll have to watch the episode.) The two met with the others as they were discussing something about the free country of Bar-Barel; where pirates from all over the globe congregate and stop by – mostly from England or other surrounding areas. After the meeting was over it ended up being one of the stops on the crew’s voyage, of course there was one detail that was left out…Yukimaru had to stay on the ship with Brule (Fena’s dog) while Fena, Shiton, Karin, Tsubaki, and the others went into the town of Bar-Barel. Yeah, that sucked but it gets better at the end.
While in town various shenanigans take place; Karin’s running around like a kid in a candy store at the various shops and street vendors, the twins Kaede and Anju are being their ‘usual’ goofy selves, and Shiton was about to get his freak on with a lady on the street until Makuba intervened. Tsubaki told the others it was time to collect supplies for the voyage while they were in town, except Fena and the twins were not with them – pissing off Tsubaki in the process. Kaede and Anju took Fena to a shop where she wanted to try some new clothes, afterwards she really did look very much like a pirate (and a cute one might I add).
Sadly trouble arose when Fena’s ex-fiancée; the creep she was supposed to marry back in the first episode, returned with his own band of pirates who surrounded Fena and the twins. Back at the ship Yukimaru asked the others where Fena was, and though they said she was with the twins he knew something was up, and raced into town to find her. It didn’t take long though, as the twins were fighting off the creep’s pirates with one of the twins complimenting one of the female pirates saying that he’d like to take her out for dinner next time. (That was Anju by the way.) Yukimaru joined the fight and took out the remaining pirates in the area before grabbing Fena and hauling ass back to the ship.
Although his hand got nicked by one of the bullets from one of the pirates who shot him, Yukimaru stated to Fena that it was only a flesh wound, and that she shouldn’t be so reckless. By the end of the episode Tsubaki was so furious at Fena and the twins’ actions that he threw the three of them overboard as punishment. The fact that Fena was a girl did NOT save her from receiving the same punishment as the twins. Although Bar-Barel was their first stop, the adventure for Fena and the crew has only just begun.
Though I’m three episodes into the series, I like the balance of comedy and action in the story a little bit. I know many fans (including my friend A. Goldman) have been craving that in several of the titles that have been released so far, but as far as Fena’s concerned, I like what I’m seeing. The crew comes with various personalities; such as the twins’ annoying and silly persona though they’re skilled fighters who are very close, Karin’s creative spirit who keeps most of the guys in line, Tsubaki who makes sure the crew stays on their mission, Makuba who’s the strength of the crew, and Shiton who’s the pretty boy all the women wanna be with. That pretty much leaves Fena; the MC of the show with a lovable personality and kinda silly herself, and Yukimaru who hasn’t quite accepted his feelings towards Fena just yet. (Hopefully we’ll see that when the story progresses.)
Alright, that’ll end this review on my side of the tracks, but as always there’s more content on the blog to come! 😉
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