Oh, dear. Steven's anime advocacy#c2 influenced the Sum Type in Go guy, who's a top Google result in an entirely unrelated field. Remember how one of the complaints about Chobits was that its Tokyo "seems to be a rather small place" where "everyone knows everyone"? How's that unrealistic now?

Okay, I have never met Jeff Lawson IRL. But.

Shingu certainly has a staying power. Yes, it's dated as all heck, and the smartphone culture was not foreseen in it. But that detracts nothing. It's still one of the few anime, populated with the characters whose company I could tolerate. Most of them are kids though, which reminds me about something as yet unblogged: the massive chuunibyou of Shingu. It is very much centered at the school and pupils there. They even have an absurdly powerful school council... But by a certain magic, it makes complete sense and does not isolate the characters from the world of adults. The same people can watch it in school and have their fantasies projected, then re-watch it 20 years down the road and appreciate it anew in all its subtlety. I cannot get into most anime series nowadays that are focused on stupid teens and their insignificant problems anymore (which is in part why Shirobako is so great), but Shingu just does it so right that it can't be denied.