Category: Review

Reviews on completed shows

Review

Self-Insertion in Sasameki Koto

Sasameki Koto didn’t seem to attract much attention when it aired in the winter, although it ended up on my watchlist by virtue of being a new yuri show. It departs quite a bit from the “walking slowly is preferred here” image of Marimite and the subtlety of Aoi Hana, going so far as to set its characters in a coed school and making one of them allegedly not a lesbian. It’s hard to say where it would fit on BakaRaptor’s real lesbian/super lesbian scale, but it’s certainly more grounded in reality than many of its kind.

Ironically, my enjoyment of Sasameki Koto has almost nothing to do with its yuri tropes and clichés. Instead, an interesting phenomenon occurred with regards to Sumika’s character: she began to feel less like the heroine and more like the male self-insert. I went into the show expecting a full serving of voyeuristic bliss derived from the idealized romances portrayed in shoujo-ai, but it wasn’t long before my experience changed from third-person to first-person.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

Victorian Slice-of-Life Shirley


[shima]

Kaoru Mori should be a familiar name among manga fans, known for her unorthodox – or is it completely orthodox? – depiction of the life of a maid. The TV series for the Emma manga aired a few years ago, which happens to be her most famous story, but I opted into buying the one volume Shirley since it seemed like less of a commitment.

Indeed, Shirley isn’t much of a commitment at all: it took me all of an hour to finish the book, cover to cover. It’s a fairly simplistic story about a thirteen year old maid in Victorian England, doing what normal maids do. Shirley is a maid, not a meido, if you know what I mean. Of course, being a manga character, she also possesses enough youthful charm to not bore you to death with 150 pages on the art of housework. You could say that Shirley has as much to do with housework as it has to do with otaku pandering.

Anyway, Shirley’s story might not be particularly memorable, but it makes for a pleasant afternoon read – preferably with a serving of crumpets and tea.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

Notes on BlazBlue

[nejime]

I might be late to the party by a year or two, but I recently got my hands on a great arcade stick for the X360 and a copy of Arc System’s latest stylish 2D fighter. Now, I realize that this isn’t a gaming blog, but something about BlazBlue has piqued my curiosity.

For one, the game feels suspiciously catered to anime fans, and not in a bad way. To prove my point, you’ve probably already heard of it, or at least seen some pictures – like Guilty Gear‘s Bridget, some of the characters and inside jokes make it out of the fighting game community and into the general otakusphere. The story mode also seems strangely fleshed out, though it’s still too early for me to comment on the plot.

At any rate, BlazBlue definitely isn’t beginner-friendly, but it seems to contain quite a few treats for the anime fans in the audience. Most of my attention is focused on learning how to play, but I can’t help but notice how polished the game feels outside of its core gameplay. Besides, with official art like this, how can you go wrong?

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Analysis

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Pierces the Heavens in more ways than one

[eltinidordediyablo]

I missed a lot of the buzz surrounding Gurren Lagann when it first aired. I knew about the drills and the dramatic quotes and episode 8, but that was it. It seemed like one of those shows that my friend was always talking about: big, colourful robots that fuse together and punch the lights out of other big, colourful robots. To be honest, I expected to hear cheesy brass-filled BGM when I finally watched it, and I was more focused on how over-the-top it was instead of on the story it was trying to tell.

Of course, it’s a bit late to be talking about a series as popular as this, but the pair of summary movies allowed me to see the story in a different light. It’s interesting to see how much sense it all makes when you’re not caught up with Kamina’s manliness and Yoko’s breasts. In fact, when I witnessed the epic conclusion for the second time, something clicked in my head that hadn’t clicked before.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

The Two Faces of Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell is the kind of show that doesn’t need to be written about, partly because it speaks for itself and partly because it’s an obligatory gateway anime that must be watched to earn one’s Aniblogger Badge. Still, as I was watching the Laughing Man OVA the other day to refresh my memory of the franchise, my brain started spinning all over again. What is it about the show that makes it so good? In a nutshell, it’s everything – the technical details of animation and music are top notch, the characters are solid, and the story treads on the shades of gray within social and philosophical issues.

I’m sure most people who have seen the summary OVA would condemn it for cutting out important character and world-building details, but the opportunity to view the entire series compressed into a couple hours lends a broader perspective. For me, it brought to light the two sides of the story that make Ghost in the Shell what it is.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Review

Golden Boy? More like Golden MAN

Golden Boy is a story of manliness.

Well, no, not really. It’s a story of life, of the energy and ambition of youth, and-

No, no, it’s not that either. It’s a story of the manliness of youth, the energy and ambition that only true men have. If you don’t believe me, hit the jump button and I’ll try to explain what makes Kintaro Oe a man amongst men.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.