Author: bateszi
-
Why Boogiepop? You wouldn't willingly escape into a nightmare, right?
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Why Boogiepop? You wouldn't willingly escape into a nightmare, right?The coolest thing about Boogiepop Phantom is that it’s just really messed up. Too often in anime are teenagers romanticised. Everything’s so sweet, so melodramatic; no permanent damage. It’s just easier to watch something like Toradora, where everyone’s so cheerful, ready to communicate and fix their problems.
-
Naruto Shippuuden episode 82 is a masterpiece
Read More →: Naruto Shippuuden episode 82 is a masterpieceAfter all these years, I still love watching Naruto. I’ll place it on hiatus every now and then, but it still is, and always will be, one of my biggest favourites. This past weekend marked the end of my latest break from Shippuuden, but already, here I am again; writing away. I couldn’t let this…
-
Bee Train's bullet ballet Phantom is really good
/
/ AnimeRead More →: Bee Train's bullet ballet Phantom is really goodBee Train doesn’t exactly have the best of reputations, be it their bias for girls with guns or their notoriously poor production values, fact is their work polarises opinion and attracts its fair share of detractors. I’ve seen neither Noir nor Madlax, was horrified by the low budget vibe I got from Blade of the…
-
The quietness of Cross Game
Read More →: The quietness of Cross GameWhen writing about Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I noted that I think it’s great because it has moments of exciting, fluid animation. I realise that’s a fairly superficial thing to say, but I think it’s true, too, and now, as if to immediately contradict myself, I’m going to write about Cross Game. This doesn’t have great…
-
Island manga: an isolated town enclosed by huge, unscalable walls…
Read More →: Island manga: an isolated town enclosed by huge, unscalable walls…The island is an isolated town enclosed by huge, unscalable walls, where the outside world is a mystery that no-one even has laid eyes on for 400 years. As its culture dies a slow death, the town’s people have forgotten how to read and write, but the children still dream of escaping, wondering what they…
-
Cross Game and Touch, and feminism in Japan
/
Read More →: Cross Game and Touch, and feminism in JapanI wasn’t aware Mitsuru Adachi (mangaka) even existed until the spring season of this very year, but all that changed after I’d seen the first two episodes of Cross Game. I realised I’d missed out on a lot of great anime of his and, to fill the gap in-between episodes of Cross Game, I started…
-
The scent of flames: Armored Trooper Votoms
Read More →: The scent of flames: Armored Trooper VotomsTo be honest, I doubt there is much I can say that will convince you to take a look at Armored Trooper Votoms. It’s an old series, with a heavy emphasis on war. Chirico is no Kamina. The characters are gritty and unrefined. When it can be hard to sit through just the 1 episode,…