Despite Bleach’s many story telling problems, I enjoy its world. When I opened a review package from Viz Media, I was surprised to see Bleach: Unforgiven nestled among the books and manga. Bleach: Unforgiven is a double movie pack that includes Fade to Black and Hell Verse. As Bleach movies go, both movies are side…
Category: Anime Reviews
No Game. No Life. The Rise of the Introvert
Welcome to NHK, Log Horizon, and No Game. No Life are all part of a trend of featuring NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) and hikikomori (extreme shut-ins) as protagonists. In the past several years, NEETs have been on the rise across the world. Anime, as an international storytelling medium, reflects this rise. In…
Gurren Lagann Does Suspense Right
Andrew and I often criticize shonen for ruining story pacing and suspense. I’ve wrote one article about the problems of anime/manga storytelling. Andrew, recently, wrote critiques of One Piece and Bleach. We often discuss what Bleach and other shows could do to tighten the storytelling and build suspense. The pull-back almost all shonen do, just…
Idealizing the Country Side and Impulsive Artists: Barakamon
Barakamon is one of those stories that resonates and repulses me. I grew up in rural America and have a dislike for cities. I also dabble in art – drawing, painting, and writing – so a story about a city-slicker professional artist who goes country appeals to me. However, most of these types of stories…
Arpeggio of Blue Steel
It is common to refer to ships as female. Now what would happen if warships and submarines were equipped with sentient artificial intelligence? Arpeggio of Blue Steel is one of the more unique anime I’ve watched. The Fog is a fleet of sentient warships and submarines equipped with technology that is centuries ahead of anything…