Category: Editorials
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Cons thrive while the industry stagnates
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Read More →: Cons thrive while the industry stagnatesI attended Anime Expo for the first time, earlier this year. What struck me most at the convention was the number of fans and their high level of enthusiasm. Fans crowded in to see industry panels, but they also embraced fan-run presentations like the Old School Anime panel. Based on the enthusiasm I saw, I’m…
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Lost in Transition: Gunbuster the Movie
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Read More →: Lost in Transition: Gunbuster the MovieI had low expectations when I bought the Gunbuster movie on blu-ray. The visuals looked underwhelming, as did the plot summary. Still, I felt that as an anime fan I had an obligation to watch a Gainax classic, and I’m happy I did. Gainax could have created a forgettable story about girls battling aliens with giant…
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I'm scared of you, let's have sex: Time of Eve
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Read More →: I'm scared of you, let's have sex: Time of EveTime of Eve is about a Japanese society assisted by intelligent, human-form androids. It draws heavily from the robots of Isaac Asimov’s books. Asimov’s and Time of Eve‘s robots are bound by a set of three laws that prevent them from harming humans or allowing humans to come to harm. Both Asimov’s and Time of Eve’s…
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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…
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Birdland
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Read More →: BirdlandAlthough I’ve been writing this anime blog for a long time now, over 6 years, in fact, I’m still not sure of the kind of blogger I am. I’m not disciplined enough to write every few days, nor do I enjoy deep analysis of anime. I don’t even really enjoy discussing it to any great…
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Veteran Creator Meets Disruptive Business Model
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Read More →: Veteran Creator Meets Disruptive Business ModelCaptain Harlock’s recent availability on Hulu and the release of OZMA highlights the career of Leiji Matsumoto. Matsumoto had a role in seminal 70s and 80s works like Captain Harlock, Starblazers, Galaxy Express 999 and Space Battleship Yamato. With OZMA, Matsumoto returns with a work that harks back to his earlier successes. The series is…
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Sexuality in anime: Mine Fujiko and Faye Valentine
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Read More →: Sexuality in anime: Mine Fujiko and Faye ValentineLike any potentially great anime, the new Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna has given us much to talk about already. It’s a beautifully animated, adult series the like of which we haven’t seen in TV anime for a while.
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The state of Noitamina and Thermae Romae
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Read More →: The state of Noitamina and Thermae RomaeIt’s fair to say that, critically, 2011 was a poor year for Noitamina and (with Guilty Crown in tow) is currently at its lowest ebb. It’s now suffering from an identity crisis, no longer the bastion of josei anime it once was. Chihayafuru is a good example of what’s meant by that; a series that…
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But I'll be Peter Pan forever: To Aru Majutsu no Index and I
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Read More →: But I'll be Peter Pan forever: To Aru Majutsu no Index and IIt’s a common story. A Saturday night, no plans. What do I do? Seek out a new anime to watch, of course.
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Madlax aka What's wrong with the anime industry
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Read More →: Madlax aka What's wrong with the anime industryYoung women with gun skills? Check. Mysterious organization that runs the world? Check. Quasi-religious mysticism? Check. Noir only lasted one season, but if you started watching Madlax and thought it was Noir Season 2 I wouldn’t blame you. Madlax isn’t a complete copy of Noir, it does tread new ground after about 20 episodes or so. And…
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Don't forget the side characters
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Read More →: Don't forget the side charactersIn alot of ways, what keeps a longer manga engaging isn’t its main characters, but the side characters. Though our initial emotional investments as readers are in the main characters, the supporting cast and their links with those main characters are what keeps the story fresh.
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Because you need a little violence in your life: Dr. Mohiro Kitoh's fabulous depression
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Read More →: Because you need a little violence in your life: Dr. Mohiro Kitoh's fabulous depressionOne thing we may deduce about author Mohiro Kitoh from Bokurano and Narutaru is that he probably had a few bad experiences growing up. It’s otherwise very difficult to understand why his stories about children are quite so fucked-up. Case in post, Narutaru, of which I just finished watching the anime adaptation.
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Anime Trends 2011: At least no one (of note) went bankrupt
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Read More →: Anime Trends 2011: At least no one (of note) went bankruptAll told, 2011 was a stable year in the anime business. No anime company of any worth (so 4Kids doesn’t count) went bankrupt, although over in the manga world TokyoPop bit the bullet. The tsunami and resulting nuclear incident will unfortunately overshadow anything else that happened with anime this year. While there were no dramatic…
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Darker than Black is the new black
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Read More →: Darker than Black is the new blackDarker than Black is an enigma. The more I watch it, the less I understand how I feel about it. I wanted to write an article extolling its virtues, for example its deep characters and beautiful art. Then I went back and re-watched season 1 and did a double take, was this the same show…
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Dear anime industry, think before you tweet
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Read More →: Dear anime industry, think before you tweetMy name is Dengar and I have a problem. My problem has a name, Twitter. Ever since I joined, I’ve been addicted to getting rapid news updates. It’s particularly convenient as a way to track anime news from companies like Funimation, Aniplex and Viz. Most of the tweets from the companies are acceptable, if not…
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An anatomy of a gaze
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Read More →: An anatomy of a gazeThough I suppose anatomy of a pose might be a better title for this post. I’m in love with by this image of Himari. Rather, boushi-san, or hat-san, as Shouma calls Himari’s possessed form. This image, seen in Mawaru Penguindrum’s second opening, Shounen yo, Ware ni Kaere, has been captivating me for some weeks now.
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Sorry women, distributors don't like you
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Read More →: Sorry women, distributors don't like youI love when the mainstream media tackles anime. Tomorrow’s New York Times’ features a story about the business opportunities in streaming anime. In its discussion of what shows work, the articles drops this great quote: “The small but avid audience is made up of mostly male viewers aged 18 to 34. Distributors said comedies, sports…
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How many lawyers does it take to screw up an anime series?
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Read More →: How many lawyers does it take to screw up an anime series?Licensing agreements are usually kept top secret for business reasons. That is, until one company (allegedly) breaches the agreement and then goes bankrupt. At that point the court system takes over and the dirty laundry become public. That is exactly what happened when 4Kids got Yu-Gi-Oh! from TV Tokyo. The upshot of the fighting is…
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Quantum is .hack as it should have been, albeit now too late
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Read More →: Quantum is .hack as it should have been, albeit now too late.hack//SIGN was one of the first anime shown by Cartoon Network and it left a lasting, negative impression on me: an otherwise brilliant show with a plot that went nowhere. .Hack//Quantum is the latest iteration of the series. It is .hack//SIGN as it should have been. It’s not a remake, just a three episode version…
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Streaming is good, streaming is right, streaming works.
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Read More →: Streaming is good, streaming is right, streaming works.Digital is the future of video media. Funimation’s announcement of a new premium streaming service this weekend shows that it recognizes what it needs to do to maximize its profits. Up until now, Funimation mostly used streaming to advertise its physical disc releases. I think this announcement reveals the company’s true online strategy, to use…
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This place of dreams and ghosts
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Read More →: This place of dreams and ghostsIt was around this time last year that I started watching Aria. I loved the first series, but stalled at some point during the second (Aria the Animation.) This week, though, I came back to it. It felt new to me all over again, that sense of peace so typical of how I’ve felt about…
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Back to School
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Read More →: Back to SchoolSeptember in the US means the end of summer vacation and the beginning of the school year. Kids spend more of their lives at school than anywhere else and I’d wager that more shows are set in schools than in any other setting. Even though school based shows have the same setting, some of them…
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A cloud prairie
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Read More →: A cloud prairieI’ve fallen behind on anime recently. I’m not sure if that’s down to a lack of interest in what I’m watching or if I’m just not in the mood for anime at the moment, but I’m feeling quite ambivalent about it all. In Celeste’s latest post, she shares the idea of “sticky anime,” positing that…
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Dedicated to all pioneers: sticky anime
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Read More →: Dedicated to all pioneers: sticky animeAt the risk of taking anime too seriously, a part of the reason my fandom has endured for as many years as it has is the idea of “stickiness”. And yes, feel free to leave your perverted jokes in the comments (jerks.)
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No. 6 and homoeroticism in anime
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Read More →: No. 6 and homoeroticism in animeIt’d be hard to watch No. 6 and not notice how homoerotic it is. I’ve now seen up to episode 5 and it’s notable how blunt it’s becoming in suggesting that Shion and Nezumi are in love. This is not a yaoi series though, it’s not a sexual or pornographic thing, I’m not sure it’s…
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Changing the flow of time
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Read More →: Changing the flow of timeTime travel always seemed like a cool concept to me. I could go back in time, make some money and live an easy life. That’s just an immature way of looking at things, though. When I imagine going back, I’m not thinking about the people around me. I’m being selfish, just thinking about material things.
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Bargain Bin Anime
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Read More →: Bargain Bin AnimeMy love of anime means I spend a great deal of time watching it and a great deal of money buying it. But the price of anime can make buying it new difficult. My budget wouldn’t last long if I bought discs with 5 episodes for $30. Happily, the industry model shifted to a wallet…
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Allison's Journey
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Read More →: Allison's JourneyAllison & Lillia: Generation 1 had potential. The show was set in a fictional Germanic country and was based on the light novels of a noted author. The two main characters, Allison and Will, explore a pastoral world with WW1 era propeller planes. Their country is in a constant state of conflict with a neighboring country, but…
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Anime after Madoka
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Read More →: Anime after MadokaLike most everyone else, I’ve enjoyed watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. I haven’t seen many other series directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, but I’m well aware he’s earned a reputation for weirdness. Even still, I’m sometimes taken aback by how abstract and artsy Madoka can get, and yet, in contrast to fellow auteurs like Masaaki Yuasa…
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Much Ado About Blu-Ray
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Read More →: Much Ado About Blu-RayThe holidays are long over and I bet some of you are enjoying brand new anime you received as gifts. For me, this year meant a leap from watching anime on my tiny computer screen to watching it on a beautiful LCD TV. Along with my new TV, I was also excited to pick up…
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Winter Impressions Part II
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Read More →: Winter Impressions Part IISlowly but surely I am getting around to previewing the rest of this season’s shows. For this post I tried to preview some series that people seemed excited about in the comments to my first winter impressions post. That entry is available here.
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Big Robots on the Big Screen
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Read More →: Big Robots on the Big ScreenThe first time I watched Evangelion I I hated everything about it. Most of all I hated the characters and how slowly the series seemed to move. The disconnect I felt with Shinji and his eternal state of depression did not help either. When I heard that the creators’ were rereleasing the show in a…
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Winter '11 Impressions
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Read More →: Winter '11 ImpressionsI don’t have Bateszi’s gift for intros, so let’s jump right into the Winter Preview. This season does not have any wildly anticipated shows, nor have I seen something of Star Driver’s caliber. Still, even if the shows don’t blow you away, anime is definitely still well and kicking.
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After Life, Angel Beats! and anime blogging
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Read More →: After Life, Angel Beats! and anime bloggingIf the anime blogosphere is a living purgatory, then the bloggers are the helpers, themselves stuck, but willing to point others in the right direction. As we see our friends come and go, sometimes it feels like there’s only a few of us left, but seeing people change is fulfilling in itself, and there’s always…
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Let's keep what I'm about to sing between the two of us, okay?
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Read More →: Let's keep what I'm about to sing between the two of us, okay?Think of this as a Diary of An Anime Lived post if that tickles your fancy. As much as I love Kuragehime, and as much as I have to say about it, I find it a little bit hard to write about. It hits a little close to home for me, and sweet as it…
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Can anime do horror?
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Read More →: Can anime do horror?Truly good horror anime is hard to find. Anime tends to use many elements of horror, but it rarely adds up to something that’s scary.
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No DVD drive on your Macbook air? No problem.
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Read More →: No DVD drive on your Macbook air? No problem.Free. Legal. And released within a week of the show’s Japan air date. Streaming video is something that I have craved ever since I started watching anime. I always feel guilty about not doing enough to support the industry, even if I do buy more anime than a normal person should. Watching streaming anime gives…
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Autumn ’10 impressions
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Read More →: Autumn ’10 impressionsWelcome to yet another autumn run-down! Everything is loosely ranked into a makeshift top 10 and we’ve tried to keep our impressions short and to the point, but if there’s anything you want clarified, feel free to question us (and our opinions) in the comments. We’ve missed out certain series because they are sequels to…
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Cherry picking in autumn 2010
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Read More →: Cherry picking in autumn 2010It’s autumn again, and with it comes dozens of new anime series to get excited about. From these, we’ve picked a few that we’re particularly interested in. Marvel at our impeccable taste and insightful opinions! I was thinking you’d come up with something better than that for the introduction. Evidently my expectations were too high.…
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Farewell Satoshi Kon
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Read More →: Farewell Satoshi KonIt’s difficult to express the disappointment I felt when I learnt of Satoshi Kon‘s passing last week. Since then, many heart-felt tributes have been published and half-way through writing this, I started wondering whether it was worth posting at all. Alas, what is blogging if not personal? I liked his films and, at the risk…
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The future of "anime" is bright
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Read More →: The future of "anime" is brightLet’s take this Dai Sato discussion for another spin, shall we? The above image is from the film My Beautiful Girl Mari. It was released in 2001, and is being distributed in the US by ADV films. Moreover, you can stream it for free courtesy of the Anime News Network. It centers around a dream…
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The future of anime (is bleak?)
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Read More →: The future of anime (is bleak?)Will the people inspired to create the anime of tomorrow want to create another K-ON? Or another Cowboy Bebop?
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Play it safe. Stay inside. Watch anime.
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Read More →: Play it safe. Stay inside. Watch anime.After tackling time travel in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mamoru Hosoda returns in Summer Wars to the more provincial and realistic world of the Internet. Luckily the Internet here is not the boring, text heavy internet of our time, but a more garish and interesting Internet of a not-too-distant future. Pastel colored avatars, corporate headquarters…
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Seeing the forest through the trees with Sailor Moon
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Read More →: Seeing the forest through the trees with Sailor MoonIf you haven’t done yourself the favour of reading the original Sailor Moon manga, I suggest you drop whatever stigmas or preconceptions you have of the series and find yourself a copy. Naturally, it suffers from the cliches it helped to establish: baddies-of-the-moment, elaborately named attacks, and a penchant for all the bad parts of…