Tag: Review

Review

Of Hydrangeas And Ashes: Socrates in Love

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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Analysis

The Truth Beneath The Surface: Clannad, Key, and the Romantic Fairy Tale

In the beginning, my Clannad pictures only involved Nagisa. Then, it was Nagisa and Tomoya. Now…well, you do the math.

It was a year and a half ago that the Clannad anime began airing, introducing to English speaking fans the latest of Key’s creations in a setting that struck everyone as “sad girls in spring.” No doubt expecting something along the lines of Kanon or AIR, we hopped on the bandwagon and followed Tomoya’s adventures as he encountered a certain hesitant dango-loving girl that was having a little trouble climbing up the hill.

That was a long, long time ago.

Much has been said about the story’s conclusion, and I honestly believe that the blogosphere’s thoughts (compiled skillfully by lelangir) have covered just about every topic I can think of. Yes, I’m late to the party, but I also cannot let an ending like this slide by without saying anything. Therefore, I’ll skim past the things you know already, like how the story is about family and how the reset end feels like a cheap shot against the viewers: if you want a detailed account of the development of Tomoya’s character or a justification for the plot twist, read some of the material that’s already been written (or just check out my last post on the appeal of the show).

Hence, this post is about my take on Clannad, and the reason why my own disappointment is nothing that stands against an excellent story.

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Review

Bitter Virgin: An Uninhibited Tale

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

A Beautiful Melody: May Sky Review

may-sky-2

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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Merchandise

Artbook Review – Happy Soda vol 1

For those of you who may have missed the news, super rats of Happy Soda recently released a figure photography doujin, sold for only a week at lulu.com. I believe the final statistics were that 25 people ordered a copy, and as one of the 25 who happens to run an anime blog, I felt obligated to write a post about it. Besides, for any of you who have visited Happy Soda before, you’ll probably agree that the man’s photography skills are superb – and like always, things look better on paper than they do on a monitor.

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Memories of Eternity