Tag: Shounen

Analysis

Liar Game and Game Theory

One of the miracles of shounen manga is the fact that they can be about anything. It’s one thing to make a shounen series for every sport on the planet – the eroge scene can compete in that regard – but it’s no new discovery that shounen extends far beyond its traditional premises, arguably a bit too far. You could probably dig up a shounen about Gunpla building or babysitting and they’d still be as over-the-top as the rest of the genre, and proud of it.

Following this train of thought, it took me a while before I started looking at Liar Game as, quite simply, a shounen about Game Theory.

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Review

The World God Only Knows and the Art of Love

Love is War, as they say. Fighting on the battlefield of love requires not only the guts and courage of a shounen hero, but also the level-headed tactical prowess of a military commander. Keima Katsuragi is one such warrior who, having distanced himself from the frailty of human emotion, fights with his life on the line against impossible odds. Armed only with his wit and intellect, he stands proudly as a one-man army against thousands of escaped spirits from Hell who hide within human hosts and absorb their energy. His dramatic tale of love and loss is one that has won the hearts of countless fans, including my own. It comes as no surprise that he will one day become the protagonist of his own anime series.

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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.

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Meta

The Impact of Gateway Anime

[banpai akira]

I don’t usually reflect on my own history as an anime fan, but something occurred to me the other day. What is the significance of a gateway anime? What kind of impact does a person’s first experience with a medium have on their enjoyment and preferences of that medium? Most fans who choose to pursue anime seriously become more well-rounded over time, but I think that the early experiences are given less credit than they deserve.

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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.

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Commentary

On Power Levels and Mary Sues

saki-mary-sue-post-1

It’s a Saki post in disguise!

If there’s one thing we know about anime, it’s that everything seems more exciting in 2D. The beginning of a school year doesn’t mean less free time and more math homework, it means encountering a mysterious transfer student under an eternally blossoming sakura tree! Being a maid isn’t about doing tedious housework that no one wants to do, it’s about serving your master and tending to his psychological needs! (Or in some cases, protecting your master through whatever bizarre means necessary.)

Likewise, in the world of anime, mahjong is not just mahjong. It’s epic mahjong. In fact, it’s epic Crazy Loli Yuri Mahjong. But is this trend to lean towards the over dramatic a good thing? How does the use of extreme exaggerations affect the viewer, especially when the line is crossed by a mile?

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