Category: Editorials
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Anime is dead
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Read More →: Anime is deadTry to define anime. You can’t, because your definition is redundant.
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Elitism on another level: pie-facing movie directors because they aren't "worthy"?
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Read More →: Elitism on another level: pie-facing movie directors because they aren't "worthy"?I’ve just read this story at ANN and it really bothered me. Lately we’ve had all this talk about elitism in the anime community, but this one guy is on another level; for those who can’t be arsed to click the link, I’m talking about “Khyron Prime”; some one who, upon deciding that he hated…
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Lelouch and Light: the era of yuppies with broken dreams
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Read More →: Lelouch and Light: the era of yuppies with broken dreamsArt imitating life, I’m sure you’ve heard that one before; the idea that the thoughts and fears of our generation are somehow reflected in the art (and therefore, entertainment) that we create. Life now, at least in developed countries like Japan, North America and the UK, is a lot calmer than it was 50 to…
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A few of the manliest death scenes EVER
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Read More →: A few of the manliest death scenes EVERFair Warning: This article contains spoilers for Gurren Lagann, Fist of the North Star, Transformers: The Animated Movie and One Piece (Drum Island). In light of Kamina’s abrupt demise, I can’t help but ponder how his influential example would fair in a list of the manliest death scenes EVER! So what makes an every day…
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Past, present and future
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Read More →: Past, present and futureTo quote rubbish rockers Staind, it’s been a while. Of course I haven’t stopped watching anime, I just don’t have much to say. I could write boring episode reviews, but you know, that’s boring! More than anything I seem to rely on inspiration to write and the feeling now is that I’m either burnt out…
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Standing on the brink of a new era, looking back at Naruto
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Read More →: Standing on the brink of a new era, looking back at NarutoStanding on the brink of a new era for Naruto, I’ve turned back the clock to look at my favourite moments from the series; fair warning – hyperbolic fanboyisms ahead. I started watching the show in 2003 with a cheap 15″ CRT monitor and two tinny sound blasters, at the time I wasn’t interested in…
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He's a man of rubber with an afro
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Read More →: He's a man of rubber with an afroLuffy’s ultimate technique? Certainly, he’s wearing an afro!
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Japan’s increasingly superficial pop culture?
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Read More →: Japan’s increasingly superficial pop culture?Superflat is a new phrase I have discovered today. It sounds like an obscure 60s rock band but is actually a growing artistic movement subverting, rejecting and critiquing Japan’s increasingly superficial pop culture; often by lampooning it with artwork that features the cute, smiling face of a young anime character surrounded by or oblivious to…
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Global culture infects the generations (with hip-hop)
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Read More →: Global culture infects the generations (with hip-hop)Later today I’ll get to watch some raw anime — episode one of Afro Samurai. And this time the Japanese can fansub it. A perverse notion if ever I’ve heard one, but quite clearly Western culture is directly infiltrating (a nicer way of putting it would be influencing) Japan’s anime industry, inevitably resulting in an…
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Observations of Everything: Bye-Bye November
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Read More →: Observations of Everything: Bye-Bye NovemberStill hopelessly hooked on… Black Lagoon (2nd Barrage) Episode 19 and counting The bog-standard Naruto fillers would be a lot more interesting if they managed to nab the creative bastards working on Black Lagoon. With that said the 2nd season has often flattered to deceive and appears to be more content to up the ante…
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US TV and anime: innovation and degeneration
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Read More →: US TV and anime: innovation and degenerationWhen I became an anime fan in 2003 what appealed to me (perhaps more than anything else) were serial stories (like Naruto – my first fansubbed anime) with gradually developed characters; personalities that could grow from despicable bastards to likable rogues, or fall from grace to become evil incarnate. At the same time American TV…
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Welcome to the NHK! – Anime or manga? Yawn
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Read More →: Welcome to the NHK! – Anime or manga? YawnAnime or manga, one is inevitably better than the other – whether it’s just another case of elitism or not, you can always bet on the jumped up manga fans hating the anime adaptations of their favourite stories. This is because the voices you hear in your head will always sound better in comparison with…
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The sudden realisation of a tired anime fan
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Read More →: The sudden realisation of a tired anime fanI’ve had so much fun watching Giant Robo for the first time this weekend – an impossibly epic, jaw dropping spectacle set against frame after frame of sprawling neon-lit cityscapes and the kind of fluidic action packed excitement you just don’t see anymore in modern anime – it has again sparked that raw enthusiasm for…
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Elitism within anime circles
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Read More →: Elitism within anime circlesFor many people being an anime fan is like holding on to precious secret deep within one’s soul – and if said secret were suddenly revealed, it would lose all value and be cast aside like last weeks old news. Mirroring the music scene when the underground trendy band signs for a major record label…
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Trapped in an ice cold back log hell: September
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Read More →: Trapped in an ice cold back log hell: SeptemberSuch is my addiction to the routine of watching anime – I horde a ridiculous amount of fansubs, promising myself I will catch up with them sooner or later, yet knowing deep down that it may never happen. As I enviously cast my eyes across the blogsphere, I usually get the urge to write one…
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Welcome to the NHK! – 2 – Crazy-otaku neighbour to the rescue
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Read More →: Welcome to the NHK! – 2 – Crazy-otaku neighbour to the rescueSato meets with young Misaki to talk about her “how to take the hikomori out of Sato” project. Though with his trademark destructive hiko-nature, Sato immediately tries to deny his shut-in ways by proving to Misaki that he does have a part to play in society after all. In embarking on this mission, he ends…
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Neon Genesis Evangelion – Why is it classic anime?
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Read More →: Neon Genesis Evangelion – Why is it classic anime?Neon Genesis Evangelion is considered by many critics to be a “classic” anime series. Loved and loathed in equal measure, its polarising reputation for invoking a distinct reaction from its viewers endures (inside and outside fandom) even today- an impressive feat being as it is a decade on from its Japanese TV debut. But what…
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The most influential people in your anime fandom
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Read More →: The most influential people in your anime fandomThe ever reliable ICv2 recently posted up a list of the “ten most powerful people in the North American anime industry“. The run down makes for interesting (if a little predictable) reading and sitting at the top is Gonzo’s bestest buddy Gen Fukunaga (of FUNimation), who managed to visciously kill off any competition with his…
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Soundtracks that stand alone
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Read More →: Soundtracks that stand aloneGreat music and great anime usually go hand in hand, but the sign of a great song is that anyone can enjoy it, irregardless of their love (or lack there of) for anime. I remember thoroughly enjoying the music used in Honey & Clover, but on its own it is a disappointing, minimal experience I…
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Dr Who inspired by Naruto, eh?
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Read More →: Dr Who inspired by Naruto, eh?Now this is something quite bizarre but looking at the evidence (images above), a recent villain from (the staple of UK sci-fi) Dr Who could well have been inspired by Sasuke’s (from Naruto) “cursed seal” form. It’s easy to dismiss this all as a mere coincidence, but you should note the red eyes (mirroring Sasuke’s…
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The declining Western anime industry
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Read More →: The declining Western anime industryThe imminent bankrupsy of Central Park Media (CPM) forecasts a bleak year ahead for the US anime industry, but given there are more fans now than ever before, one would assume that the opposite should be true. The Anime Almanac has an answer, though I’m not sure whether they are right; it seems fansubs are…
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Reigniting the flames of fansubs
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Read More →: Reigniting the flames of fansubsIn an interview with ActiveAnime, Viz Media’s director of PR Evelyn Dubocq slammed all forms of internet piracy. Despite the generic corporate style of her responses (which show little-to-no knowledge of the anime community as a whole), Dubocq’s remarks have inevitably reignited the flames of debate within the anime community. On one side we have…
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Anime Bloggers Need Excitement
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Read More →: Anime Bloggers Need ExcitementThe relevance (or rather, lack there of) of contemporary anime blogs has again been brought into question, this time at the core of the blogsphere itself; blogsuki. The central theme of the discussion is an unstoppable slew of generic episode summaries, the problem being that these dozens of posts all essentially describe the same things;…
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Can an opening theme resurrect a series?
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Read More →: Can an opening theme resurrect a series?Is an opening theme enough to reignite interest in a series? I guess it is for me because I’ve just seen the third opening sequence for mediocre vampire slasher Blood+ and suddenly I’ve been persuaded to give this show another chance. First time around I discovered Blood+ was terribly predictable, but if Production I.G devote…
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Skewed tastes of the otaku
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Read More →: Skewed tastes of the otakuWith blogger hubs like Blogsuki and the AnimeAntenna cropping up, now is as good a time as ever to gauge how the tastes of the hardcore anime fan often differ from that of the general anime buying public. According to the stats provided by Blogsuki, the most popular shows currently being blogged are Mai Otome,…
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Paranoia Agent – Happy Family Planning censored in the UK
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Read More →: Paranoia Agent – Happy Family Planning censored in the UKFor those who aren’t aware, I’m based in the UK. Being an anime fan in England isn’t so bad, though like every country, we have to put up with the occasional scandal; and this week one such scandal has been making waves in our anime community. Basically, the BBFC have decided to censor a section…
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Why am I running an anime blog?
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Read More →: Why am I running an anime blog?This is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, and with the recent commentary posted over at “a fairy tale…”, I guess it’s time for me to revaluate the real reason why this place exists. I’ve long admired anime blogs from afar, enjoyed reading their quick-fire reviews of my favourite shows and always…
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Fan service to the detriment of quality
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Read More →: Fan service to the detriment of qualityI tend to avoid anime with an over-emphasis on fan service, I construe it as a weakness in story telling; a cynical way of appealling to a base number of fan-boys/girls. In other words, I hate being pandered to- and so inevitably, I’ve ended up missing out on some of the most otaku series of…