Tsukune is a normal high school teenager. Of course, in the anime world that means abnormal events are on the menu. Tsukune is unable to get into a private school because of his poor grades. With help from his parents, he lands a spot at the Yokai Academy. Yokai is a class of monster in…
Category: Anime
Brief Visual Anime History
Anime as we know it has been around in Japan since the Edo period…ok at least it draws it’s roots to that period. Ukiyo-e were woodblock prints. Ever heard of Katsushika Hokusai? His work is ukiyo-e. You can see many of the elements anime will draw from: the simplified yet expressive faces, the vibrant colors,…
Shigurui: Death Frenzy
Shigurui: Death Frenzy is deathly serious, but I wasn’t expecting reach-into-your-stomach-and-pull-out-your-own-intestines serious. In one of the opening scenes a Daiymo’s advisor pleads with the lord not to hold a competition with real swords. To illustrate his point of what will happen to these promising young swordsman he reaches into his own seppuku wound and pulls…
Anime Annoyances: Humor
Anime humor itself isn’t annoying (often weird, but not annoying). It is the when and what that makes anime humor annoying. Anime has the bad habit of interjecting humor during serious scenes and having characters that are more annoying than funny. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is especially prone to injecting humor during serious scenes. Several times…
Xam’d: Lost Memories
One part studio Ghibli and one part Eureka Seven, Xam’d is a different entry into the mecha genre. In the world of Xam’d, the mechs are living things evolved from people (aptly called Human Forms). That’s right. The pilot is the mech. Xam’d begins on quiet Sentan Island. The island is cut off from the…
Air Gear
Air Gear follows Itsuki Minami and his friends as they form a gang to compete against other AT gangs. AT stands for Air Treks, special inline skates that allow the rider to do impossible things. ATs let people scale vertical walls and even fly. It all begins when Ikki is beat senseless by a gang…