In Berserk Deluxe volumes 3 and 4, the criticisms I had with the previous volumes fall away. In these volumes, Griffith fades into the background. His influence remains as a background mover of the plot, but his fading gives space for Guts to take the spotlight. In my previous reviews, I wrote about how Guts…
Category: Book Reviews
The Book of Bushido by Antony Cummins
The Book of Bushido by Antony Cummins summarizes the landscape of bushido history and thought. Cummins touches on the contradictions found in the various writings that form bushido. He explains that the ideas we call bushido weren’t a philosophical system. Rather, each region and time period had their own set of rules, ideas, and aspirations…
Berserk Deluxe Volume 2 Review
Berserk Deluxe Volume 2 covers the “Golden Age”, “Nosferatu Zodd”, and other arcs. As fans of the series told me, Berserk hits its stride with the “Golden Age”, but I didn’t find Guts to be the reason. Griffith steals the show in this arc. He presents a good foil for Guts. Griffith is a bundle…
Hagakure: the Art of the Samurai
The Hagakure appears obsessed with seppuku when you read through it. In the book, Yamamoto Tsunetomo collected myriad accounts of samurai from Saga domain along with various proverbs and lessons. Tsunetomo lived during the long peace of the Edo period as a custodian of Lord Mitsushige’s books. He worked from theory, which is why seppuku…
Berserk Deluxe Edition 1 Review
Long-time readers know I’m not usually much of a manga reader. I prefer to read prose. But I’ve been needing to expand my reading, so I jumped into the first deluxe edition of Berserk. Berserk fans won’t be happy with me. I can summarize my reading of first volume in a word: meh. It’s not…
Otaku USA, the physical anime and manga magazine
Physical magazines have increasingly been going extinct. As far as I know, Otaku USA is the last-standing physical magazine that covers anime and manga in the US. At my library, the children’s department uses the magazine to help their manga ordering. The magazine reviews manga, anime, and video games as they release here in the…