Author: bateszi
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A distant light: Hyouka
Read More →: A distant light: HyoukaSomewhere between its Autumn lights and shifting leaves, there’s a warmth in Hyouka. Warm is a good way of describing the series, emotional is another. Not emotional in a melodramatic sense, but rather, one feels a liveliness coursing through every table leg and dusty bookshelf in the series. It has the sense of a story…
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Anime still has it: Space Brothers
Read More →: Anime still has it: Space BrothersFor a while there, I stopped believing that the anime industry was capable of crafting shows like Space Brothers (Uchū Kyōdai.) When I seriously started getting into anime, there were series like Planetes, Gankutsuou, Monster and Mushishi all being released in and around the same time. These were series not influenced by other anime and…
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Virtual/Reality: Sword Art Online
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Read More →: Virtual/Reality: Sword Art Online“There is no doubt that this is a virtual world, that everything we see and touch is an imitation created from data. But to us, our hearts do exist within this reality. If that’s true, then everything we’re experiencing here should also be true.” Asuna, Sword Art Online I’ve never played an MMO, but I’ve…
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Taiyo Matsumoto’s new manga, Sunny: melancholy and wonderful
Read More →: Taiyo Matsumoto’s new manga, Sunny: melancholy and wonderfulI’ve long been a fan of Taiyo Matsumoto, a guy who for years has ranked amongst my favourite mangaka. Hopefully you’ll know him as the author of Tekkonkinkreet (Black & White,) or GoGo Monster, or perhaps even Ping Pong? If not, you really should, because he’s a genius.
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Liking Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse? See also…
Read More →: Liking Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse? See also…Earth’s invaded, humanity’s out-matched and Japan’s moe legions are our first line of defence. Would you feel confident?
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The girl who became a zombie
Read More →: The girl who became a zombieI’m utterly torn by Sankarea. It has beautiful art direction and some fascinating ideas, but it’s also about as exploitative as anime gets. There’s just so much to like about it though, starting with the girl who became a zombie. Of course, to become a zombie, one must first die. Sanka commits suicide because her…
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Out of print: First world problems
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Read More →: Out of print: First world problemsLast night I started learning French. Why? Because I want to read manga. This all started earlier in the year, when I noticed how a lot of English-translated anime and manga were going out of print. And when stuff goes out of print, it either gets expensive (often ridiculously so) or just totally disappears. I…
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God mercifully sent an angel to this pathetic, powerless girl
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Read More →: God mercifully sent an angel to this pathetic, powerless girlThere are actually three main characters in Berserk. Guts and Griffith are two, but the other is Casca, the fiercely loyal female commander of the Band of the Hawk.
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A life as a martyr to his dream
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Read More →: A life as a martyr to his dreamEpisode 10 of Berserk is amongst the finest episodes of anime I’ve ever seen. From the moment Guts kills the boy Adonis, we’re forced to re-evaluate the righteousness of Griffith’s conquest and whether it’s worth its price in blood. “But there is one other thing more precious to a man beyond all else. Something one…