Tag: Review

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.

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Community

Secret Santa Review: Kamichu, a God at Heart

[naruko hanaharu]

What does it mean to be a God?

For most people, this is a question that is rarely seriously pondered – and if it is, it’s probably through the lens of theology rather than Japanese cartoons.

Of course, Koji Masunari‘s Kamichu is no more about theology than Fate/stay night is about mythology. The background setting of religion is an interesting means of portraying a fairly simplistic and heartwarming coming-of-age tale, not unlike the works of a familiar studio. It follows the old magic-as-a-metaphor trope perfectly, using fantasy elements to illuminate the development of a very down-to-earth protagonist.

That said, I don’t believe the story contains any concrete themes or specific metaphors. Instead, it’s more of a general feeling, a vague message everyone understands but no one can describe. At the very least, despite its abstract plot and childish imagery, Kamichu will get you thinking.

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Review

Subtlety in Romance, Sweet Blue Flowers

I often ponder the appeal of yuri. Is it the forbidden, exotic allure of a pair of pining maidens, begging to be fetishized and capitalized upon by the industry? On some level, yes – but making that claim would be akin to claiming that all romanticized love stories with attractive females exist solely for the lonely fan.

Yuri, like all settings and devices and what have you, is simply a premise. It’s something that can enhance a story if used effectively, something that can potentially add that extra push to cross the line between good and great. Recently, one such series stirs warmly in my memory as I recall it: Aoi Hana, a warm love story about crying lesbians.

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Merchandise

Artbook Review: Mutsumi Sasaki Art Works 1998-2005

Ironically, I already did a post on Mutsumi Sasaki’s second artbook; this here is his first book, a self-explanatory collection of his work from 1998-2005. In terms of style, it goes without saying that you can expect the same kind of content that was in Est – which is to say, a skillful combination of moe and bishoujo. His first book is a hardcover, which is nice, but it has appallingly few pages considering the hardcover format, and some of the content overlaps. Is it still worth it? That’s a fair enough question, but first let’s take a look through the scans.

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Merchandise

Artbook Review: GU-RE-N (Noizi Ito)

I would be surprised if you haven’t already seen Noizi Ito‘s character designs somewhere, even if you didn’t realize it at the time. Though she appears to be more active in the eroge scene, I’m sure we’ve all laid eyes on the covers of the Shana and Haruhi light novels by now, both of which have been released in English. To my knowledge, Guren was her first commercial artbook, and it’s comprised mainly of miscellaneous pictures from the games she’s worked on, with a solid chunk dedicated to Shakugan no Shana. The only downside I can think of is the lack of full-sized images, but you’ll be able to make those decisions for yourself in a moment.

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Merchandise

Artbook Review: Mutsumi Sasaki Art Works Est

Mutsumi Sasaki is another one of those popular eroge artists that you’ve probably noticed at one point or another. He’s been in the industry for quite some time, designing characters for the Memories Off franchise (the anime adaptations were mediocre, but that’s another story), and, more recently, titles like Chaos;Head and Myself;Yourself. Putting the inappropriate use of semicolons aside, neither of the aforementioned shows struck me as anything spectacular, but one of my favourite aspects of them was the character designs. Why? The answer should be obvious. I love Mutsumi Sasaki, and while he might not be my absolute favourite artist, his work always holds some sort of mysterious control over me. Est is his most recent professional artbook, and suffice to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

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Memories of Eternity