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Anime Reviews

Destroying her identity: the timeless, terrifying world of Kaiba

I have dreams. I want to do something with my life. I want to be remembered. In my own little world, everything revolves around me. Isn’t it terrifying then to imagine a world where all of those important feelings, the very things that make you what you are, can be compressed into a memory ‘chip’ small enough to fit into the palm of your hand? Such is the way of things in the 2008 dystopian anime series Kaiba. It’s been 11 years since Masaaki Yuasa unleashed this utterly unique anime on the world, but does it still hold up today?

If anything, it’s more relevant now than ever!

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Anime Editorials

Okay to delete: forgetting meaningful anime

Do I have the discipline to <schedule my posts ahead of time>? I’ve no idea! It should be an interesting experiment though… — me, in April

Well, I have the answer now: no, I do not have the discipline! For a little while, I tried, but nothing really sparked. From the moment that I stepped off the treadmill, I just stopped thinking about anime altogether. I guess I just needed the rest. Anyway, my little Spring hiatus gave me a chance to think about how I’m approaching anime and this blog.

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Editorials

Spring status update

As I reflect on how things have been going for the blog since November last year, I’m satisfied that I’ve been able to post something new most weeks. I feel like I’m into the routine of writing about anime again. The Winter season was good for me: from Dororo and The Promised Neverland through to Run with the Wind, it had a lot that I was able to empathise with and write about. I’m sure I can continue in this vein, but I’m thinking of changing tack instead.

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Anime Reviews

The Promised Neverland anime review: Vulnerable & compulsive

The Promised Neverland was great. At some point during its run, I started watching new episodes as soon as they were out. Every episode seemed to end on a massive cliffhanger, teasing me to the point of screaming (in frustration, but I know where your mind’s going!) I can only speak for myself and it’s hard to know how fans of the manga felt, but as an anime-only viewer, I can’t complain at all: by the end, I was compulsively watching The Promised Neverland.

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Anime Reviews

Boogiepop and Others anime review: If only…

Boogiepop and Others is many things, but an anime for casual viewers it is not. Unless you’re willing to give it your full attention, it will leave you behind. One measly episode a week is not nearly enough to keep track of such a complicated web of things: to be honest, I’ve spent the last week watching it and even then I was still feeling lost by it all. This is just the nature of Boogiepop: it sets out to confuse, only to unravel from there, but like a particularly tough knot, there is satisfaction to be found in untying it all.

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Anime Reviews

You cannot save the world on your own: The Promised Neverland episode 11

What a treat episode 11 was.

At this point, I have to say I think this anime is as good an adaptation as fans of The Promised Neverland could have hoped for. It’s the best kind of escapism: I lost myself watching this episode, it flew by so fast, and I can hardly stomach that there’s now only one more left.

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Anime Editorials

Spring 2019 anime preview

I could end up watching a lot of anime come April.

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Anime Editorials

A warm heart in the grim worlds of Dororo & Rurouni Kenshin

Watching Dororo has helped me realise that Kazuhiro Furuhashi is one of my favourite anime directors. He is the man responsible for directing the breathtaking Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuioku-hen) which is a marked departure from Kenshin’s much lighter TV series and tonally has much more in common with Dororo. In short, both anime are grim as heck.

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Anime Reviews

The food chain: The Promised Neverland episode 8

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Anime Reviews

A light inside the darkness: The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu)

The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu) is about creating a dictionary. The people involved invest decades of their lives into its singular craft, which is no small feat. The series begins as Mitsuya Majime joins the dictionary’s editorial team. He’s a weird guy, introverted, but fascinated by words. Switched from a different job that he was struggling with, it’s like something has finally clicked for him. This is the job he was born to do, but every now and then, he has nightmares about being lost at sea. The water rises about his legs as a flood of words threatens to sweep him away.

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