Manga is good for your brain. Yep. You’ve read that right. In fact, reading manga may give you an advantage over those, like me, who grew up reading only traditional books. Manga benefits those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) too. The medium requires a different set of skills than reading traditional books. Not to say…
Category: Anime
Kakegurui’s Similarities to Moby Dick
Call me Ryōta. As I watched Kakegurui, it struck me how similar it felt to Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick. Let me summarize each and then we’ll jump into how an anime about a compulsive gambler feels similar to a story about a man obsessed with a white whale. Kakegurui follows Yumeko as she gambles through…
Citrus: Lesbianism at All-Girls Schools
Citrus is the first yuri anime I’ve watched from start to finish. The story follows the fraught romance between two step-sisters Yuzu and Mei. As you can expect from anime, they share little in common. Yuzu is a fun-loving city girl while Mei is cold and by-the-books. Yuzu feels conflicted about her feelings. After all,…
Oreimo – Abuse as Comedy
Abuse is apparently okay between siblings, at least according to Oreimo. This anime follows the usual teen antics and awkward relationships anime tends to focus upon, but a sister-brother complex and rampant verbal and physical abuse mars what is a basic story. First, I’ll start with the good. Oreimo, which is short for Ore no…
The Role of Satire: Crayon Shin Chan as an Example
As Shin drops his drawers and does another “ass dance” to delight his kindergarten classmates and horrify his teachers, I’m struck by the show’s sophistication. How can an “ass dance” be sophisticated? It’s not, but the satire of Crayon Shin Chan is. Satire cuts at ideas we often fail to see, and it is, perhaps,…
What Does Moe Mean?
Moe has a complex history and meaning. Most people believe it’s a certain type of anime character. Namely, cute, innocent girls with big eyes that do cute things. While moe does deal with this, it’s true definition goes beyond kawaii. Now, some may wonder why it matters to define anime slang (moe isn’t really slang)…