Category: Review

Reviews on completed shows

Review

Of Hydrangeas And Ashes: Socrates in Love

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It’s funny how often the greatest stories are about the simplest of things. Love, after all, is nothing new to the human race. It’s been around since the beginning the time, for as long as we’ve been able to think and feel; whether eating freshly roasted meat in a cave in some unknown corner of the planet, or drinking aged wine and dining atop the CN Tower, there are some aspects of the human mind that have never changed, and never will.

So, why is it that stories like this continue to crop up? Could it be, perhaps, that even after thousands of years, there are some things about ourselves that we don’t know? Some things that still challenge us to look into our lives, into our hearts – things that elude us even to this day?

Socrates in Love is a simple story, but I believe – in my humble, oh-so-subjective opinion – that that is what makes it beautiful. Without the use of symbolism or allegory, rich vocabulary or vivid imagery, it captures the hearts of its readers – because it takes a simple, unoriginal concept, and portrays it in a blindingly blunt light that leaves the reader both dazzled and broken.

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Review

Bitter Virgin: An Uninhibited Tale

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It’s an interesting phenomenon when a fictional story makes you figuratively cringe with pain. No, not the kind of cringing that seems to so often occur while watching the likes of Akikan or hundredth filler episode of Naruto: I’m talking about a reaction to real pain, pain that goes beyond 22 minutes of poor animation.

Bitter Virgin, however, is not entirely about pain. It’s as much a dark story as it is a hopeful one, and it juxtaposes an improbable cruelty with an equally improbable shoujo romance in a manner that’s somewhat plausible – and most importantly, effective. It isn’t without its flaws, but looking back, this simple four volume manga series invoked more emotion – and more dark emotion – from me than a fictional story has for a long, long time.

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Review

Blood Alone Volume 1: A Vampire is Fine Too

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Blood Alone is an obscure manga about a loli vampire living with a young male novelist, with an air of mystery and intrigue woven into the densely implicit romance. That’s it, in a nutshell: a random purchase made on my last Amazon shopping spree because the cover art looked nice. Was I disappointed? Not in the least. Read on to hear more about this little gem of a series that I hadn’t so much as heard of until a month ago.

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Analysis

The Spiral: Symbolism, Imagery, and a little Direction for Kara no Kyoukai 5

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The spiral is a recurring image in the latest installment of Kinoko Nasu’s Kara no Kyoukai, representing the pathway to Araya’s elusive origin of the universe. Mathematics confuse me, to be frank, and I doubt that Nasu was thinking about physics when he penned the novel, but looking at thing from a more figurative (or possibly religious) perspective sheds a bit more light on the matter.

However, the fifth movie in the series is chock full of not only skillful imagery and symbolism, but also brilliant fight scenes that brought even me to the edge of my seat. While the plot and characters of the franchise are something that I will avoid discussing at least until the series ends, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Paradox Spiral is as aesthetically and technically appealing as it is simply good.

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Review

A Beautiful Melody: May Sky Review

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With the conclusion of al|together 2008, eager English-speaking visual novel fans from around the world clamored to play the latest batch of doujin VNs, hand picked by the translation community and brought to us legally for free. While I haven’t played anything close to all of the translated VNs out there (although I have played quite a few things that no one ever mentions…and I can see why no one mentions them), there was one game this year that stood out in my eyes. It was nothing particularly special – nothing intriguing like Ballad of an Evening Butterfly, nothing dramatic like True Remembrance, nothing tear-jerking like Narcissu – but it was a fun experience nonetheless. It served as an excellent reminder to me that stories don’t have to be revolutionary to be good, and though May Sky was far from revolutionary, it was certainly good.

Read on for my spoiler-free review of the game, and a final statement on why you shouldn’t overlook it.

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Review

My Japanese Coach – Because I’m too lazy to actually study the language

For those of you who have yet to hear about this little gem of a DS game, My Japanese Coach is the latest in the “coach” series, which is yet another one of Nintendo’s ploys to ignore the hardcore and sell to the masses. However, this time I’m not complaining, because as you well know, any self-respecting anime blogger or otaku should learn at least a little Japanese in their lifetime – and if they can do it through a video game, then why not?

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