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Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – "Listen to me, you fucking furry"
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Read More →: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – "Listen to me, you fucking furry"This episode confirms it; Gurren Lagan is made of all kinds of awesome. The first 10 minutes… I’ve been sitting here for 20 and I still can’t articulate everything that’s so good about it. I’m talking about the knife fight. The way the characters move, the way they talk, the art, the fluidity of animation,…
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Big and dumb mecha show, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Big and dumb mecha show, Tengen Toppa Gurren LagannIn a word, the 2007 spring season has been AWESOME. So much so, I’m already fearing the potential back-log of episodes. Of the 7+ new shows I’m following, my favourite right now is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It’s hard to know what to expect from Gainax these days, but I had great fun watching this.…
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Hataraki Man – Entering the hard boiled wonderland
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Hataraki Man – Entering the hard boiled wonderlandWhile the spring season blossoms with new anime, I’m still frozen in winter wonderland with Hataraki Man. This is another show that, for whatever superficial reasoning, I had managed to avoid until this past weekend. Fate conspired to bring us together. These are my thoughts so far, but be warned, Hataraki Man is a (rather…
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Gunbuster – I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Gunbuster – I Love You But I've Chosen DarknessPutting aside the hyperbole and the fandom that seems to hold hands and religiously scream about every post-digisub series (myself included), the majority of newly crafted anime is objectively mediocre and creatively flat. Realizing this, yet still hopelessly attracted to spending an inexplicable amount of time rooted in front of the stuff, it’s about time…
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Naruto Shippuuden – 5 – Keep The Car Running
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Naruto Shippuuden – 5 – Keep The Car RunningThe massive clash of Gaara’s sand vs. Akatsuki’s blonde bombshell Deidara rages ever on while Naruto and Sakura celebrate with a bowl of ramen having again teamed up with their perverted old sensei; anti-social bastard that he is, Kakashi declines their company, no doubt to finish off the latest volume of his favourite romantic yarn…
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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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One Piece – Being the weak one sucks, just ask Usopp
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – Being the weak one sucks, just ask UsoppBeing the weak one sucks, just ask Usopp – beaten within an inch of his life and robbed of a new found fortune; the money was for everyone; for his nakama. They relied on him to carry it and he lost it. They wouldn’t lose it, but he did, because he is Usopp – the…
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Naruto Shippuuden – 1 to 2 – Well worth the wait, my fellow Narutards
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Naruto Shippuuden – 1 to 2 – Well worth the wait, my fellow NarutardsI forgot how damn awesome Naruto is when it gets serious. These first two episodes are brilliant, the new soundtrack is wonderful too; dramatic, epic and even a little nostalgic. It just looks and sounds all grown up. After this and Mushishi, composer Toshio Masuda is fast becoming my favourite anime soundtrack-er. There is an…
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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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Nodame Cantabile – Big fluffy clouds and endless blue sky
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Nodame Cantabile – Big fluffy clouds and endless blue skyHoney & Clover was a great show, and a cherished, personal favourite of mine. That was what first attracted me to Nodame Cantabile. They share the same animation studio, director and character designer; a.k.a winning formula. I’m trying to emphasize that expectations are a bitch, and this time the benchmark was set particularly high; so…
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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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MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno – Kissing The Christmas Killer
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno – Kissing The Christmas KillerFor what seems like forever, I’ve been a hopeless follower of Yoko Kanno’s music. I adore almost every single one her soundtracks, from the jazzy Cowboy Bebop to the sweeping, epic sound of Vision of Escaflowne. With a lot of anime composers, I tend to blow hot and cold – meaning I can love a…
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Hokuto no Ken: The Legend of Raoh – Demonic fist of the devil
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Hokuto no Ken: The Legend of Raoh – Demonic fist of the devilAlong with Ninja Scroll, I grew up watching the Fist of the North Star movie. I was attracted by the unapologetic gore but this was no mere action flick – set in a post apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear holocaust, I felt in awe of the endlessly barren landscapes, the grandiose struggle for power between…
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Naruto – 219 – For the love of god, not long now
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Naruto – 219 – For the love of god, not long nowWe join the “fun” just as Gaara corners the warrior from Takumi, and given his murderous ability, a simple win for the ultra-strong sand man is expected, but the warrior turns to confidently exclaim, as diabolical villains often do, that in fact, Gaara is now “the one cornered! Muhaha…” Naruto arrives on cue just in…
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Death Note – 15 – It's been all sorts of fun, L
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Death Note – 15 – It's been all sorts of fun, LIt’s around about now that we realise Death Note is becoming more than a very good anime series. It’s becoming one of those “OMFG-WTF-CLIFFHANGER!?!” types. I can feel the hysteria surging within me. 15 episodes in and the twists and turns of the story are still as unpredictable as ever. Watching it makes me a…
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Another new blog layout, Rock Lee style
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Read More →: Another new blog layout, Rock Lee styleIt’s been nearly four months since I last tinkered with the layout, but last week I caught the designers bug again (*sniff* along with a cold too *sniff*), and so… this is the result! Of course I hope you like the fresh new look, I have to admit it’s a little more ‘accessible’ than my…
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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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Berserk – 3 – The Hawk that soars ever higher
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Berserk – 3 – The Hawk that soars ever higherThe moustache twiddling decadence caused by extended aristocracy is an issue central to the narrative of Berserk. Regardless of social standing, we all like to dream that we are destined for greatness, to achieve something worthwhile. Aristocracy exists to elongate wealth and protect respect no matter what the cost, and that often includes suppressing the…
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Red Garden – Only in death do they find true happiness
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – Only in death do they find true happinessI’ve been an advocate of Red Garden since the first episode, but until this past weekend I hadn’t seen beyond episode three. Red Garden isn’t easy to watch – if the characters aren’t paralysing my brain with screaming, tearful grief, they start singing instead. I like that the show is trying something different with the…
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Berserk – 2 – Sparks fly as the wheels of fate spin
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Berserk – 2 – Sparks fly as the wheels of fate spinEpisode two introduces us to the important characters that make up the “Band Of The Hawk” – in other words, the personalities that dominate the rest of Berserk. The dark-skinned Casca is an exceptionally talented swordsman who just so happens to be a woman. That she commands so much respect amongst her comrades suggests that…
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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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MP3 Spotlight: Conquer the world with Death Note
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Conquer the world with Death NoteI’m sitting here feeling like I can take on the world, I’m listening to the Death Note soundtrack. This is the music that makes Light scribbling in his notebook"¦, hell, eating a packet of crisps, rock us like it’s an earth shattering moment. Understand then that this music is overblown and melodramatic, and love it…
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Berserk – 1 – An introduction to obsession
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Berserk – 1 – An introduction to obsessionI’m just going to come right out and say it — Berserk is my favourite anime of all time. I became an anime fan because of Naruto, but Berserk and its alluring quantities of bloody violence, epic action and tragic friendship immediately captured my heart and held onto it ever since. I still remember having…
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D.Gray-man – 12 – Limitless sacrifice?
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/ ReviewsRead More →: D.Gray-man – 12 – Limitless sacrifice?Like most of its Shonen Jump brethren, D.Gray-man is weakly balanced on a thin line between generic and fun. Just this evening I’ve caught up to episode 12 and feel torn by the somewhat superficial character development. Moody bishonen Kanda is a good example of how utterly archetypal some of these characters are – to…
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MP3 Spotlight: Highlights of Welcome to the NHK!
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Highlights of Welcome to the NHK!Looking back on 2006 we have seen a handful great series come and go, but even fewer great soundtracks have enlightened our senses. And when I say great, I mean music you can listen to at home, at work and on the bus. Toshio Masuda’s beautifully sparse work on Mushishi was a relaxing and naturally…
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Welcome to the NHK [END] – And so dies the NEET
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK [END] – And so dies the NEETIt was cute to see NHK end with a role reversal between Misaki and Satou – there are big differences between a lazy hikkimori and having a genuinely mixed up life. In spite of his personal problems Satou was always a fairly normal person just in need of tough love. When his parents’ money dries…
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Again the fate of the world is in the hands of 14 kids (Bokurano)
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Again the fate of the world is in the hands of 14 kids (Bokurano)Its been a while readers, 7 days to be precise, and as we all know, 7 days on internet may as well be a lifetime. I won’t labor you with the details, but suffice to say that this gradual slow down in blogging is sadly down to cliche reasons; I have found a new job…
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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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Welcome to the NHK! – (Never) Learning to Fly
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – (Never) Learning to FlyHaving just finished watching episode 19, this must be the first time I’ve left off Welcome to the NHK feeling happy! It was fantastic to see a smiling Torotoro-san biking around and about the streets of Tokyo; you can see in his grinning face that suddenly life is worth living again. Despite Satou’s constant whining,…
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Reflecting on Kemonozume – Too cool for otaku
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Reflecting on Kemonozume – Too cool for otakuIt’s fair to say that the creative staff “working on” (more like playing with) Kemonozume must have had so much fun, from flying heads and sexed up monkeys to a perverted old man shoving a pair of severed female arms down his skanky speedos – this is a show that clearly had no pretension of…
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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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Giant Robo – Man-size anime
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Giant Robo – Man-size animeAbly piloting his nuclear powered giant robot (sensibly dubbed "Giant Robo"), Daisaku Kusama is a brave young kid charged with the every day fate of saving the world. We join his story with his team mates in the internationally renowned "Experts of Justice" jumping (and teleporting!) from country to country fighting off the monstrous terrorists…
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Kemonozume – 10 – Sex-starved monkeys and eating fish with giant detectives
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 10 – Sex-starved monkeys and eating fish with giant detectivesSince we’re now hitting the final couple of episodes, Kemonozume is building up to an action packed climax. The villain, or “big boss”, has turned out to be the fat Ohba – I liken his bizarre appearance to that of a clown, and deep down, we’re all scared of clowns – their smiley made-up faces…
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Welcome to the NHK! – 16 – The Ultimate NEET
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – 16 – The Ultimate NEETThere was always going to be a twist behind the real world identity of Mia. “She” was too perfect, Satou loved her too much, and NHK! isn’t about Satou being in love. I certainly didn’t see it being Yamazaki though – jeez, that was cruel of him. And then there is the flash-forward to Satou’s…
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Red Garden – 3 – Theatrical heart break
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – 3 – Theatrical heart breakEpisode 3 of Red Garden is the best yet; the viewer leaves this instalment drenched in suspense, mystery and blood, and all the while we’re slowly beginning to understand what’s happened to the girls – or rather, how they died! There are still big question marks hanging over why they were all together on *that*…
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Kemonozume – 9 – Old habits die hard
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 9 – Old habits die hardStill on the run from the Kifuuken, we join the love birds Yuka and Toshihiko aimlessly wandering down vast and empty roads when they are offered a lift by an old married couple. Their journey (squeezed inside a white van) is a chance for them to reflect on their young relationship, inspired by the beautiful…
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Kemonozume – 8 – Hard violence, hard sex, hard feelings
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 8 – Hard violence, hard sex, hard feelingsAt the beginning of this episode a boy student is excitedly kissing his innocent girlfriend for the first time. They hold each other in an emotional embrace, it is a pivotal moment in their lives, “Ah the day has finally come, Takako-Chan’s warm, soft, slippery thing is in my mouth…”. But the boy gets too…
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Red Garden – 2 – Expensive shirts and werewolves
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – 2 – Expensive shirts and werewolvesI do love mysterious horror stories, especially when the viewer is as much at a loss as to what is going on as the characters themselves. The supernatural Red Garden is growing with this creeping intrigue, it’s bizarre and confusing and a lot of my interest is now centred on eventually finding answers. In some…
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Welcome to the NHK! – 14 to 15 – MMORPGs destroy lives… mmmk?
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – 14 to 15 – MMORPGs destroy lives… mmmk?The relentless waves of depression continue unabated with these two episodes as Satou (hardly recovered from his suicidal exploits) stupidly falls foul to the life sucking world of MMORPGs. These highly addictive and never ending online games are undoubtedly one of the major forces behind what is becoming a worldwide epidemic of hikkimori, but what…
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Mushishi – 26 – And so ends a landmark anime production
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Mushishi – 26 – And so ends a landmark anime productionAs if to confirm its audacious brilliance, central character Ginko hardly even appears in this final episode and it was still one of the highlights of the Mushishi TV series. Again bursting with its trademark melancholic tone, this was yet another natural blend of touching storytelling that mixes a retrospective and sad human drama with…
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Death Note – 2 – Hiding behind a notebook
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Death Note – 2 – Hiding behind a notebookI’m surprised by just how fast Light is losing grip on reality. In only this second episode he coldly considers killing his family if they were ever to piece together his part in the (now world famous) mass-murdering case, while later he shows no signs of regret upon murdering (using the Death Note, obviously) a…
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One Piece – Winning without even throwing a punch
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – Winning without even throwing a punchIt’s funny how we spend hours upon hours watching anime, often only for but a few short minutes of absolute pay off. I watch One Piece for these transcendental moments; don’t get me wrong, it’s a consistently fun show but every so often, it raises itself to a rare point of pure emotional resonance with…
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D.Gray-man – 2 – The end of the world is nigh
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/ ReviewsRead More →: D.Gray-man – 2 – The end of the world is nighEpisode two is our first proper introduction to the spiritual world of D.Gray-man and clear references are drawn from Christian religion (“Noah’s ark”) to better illustrate the show’s strong supernatural themes with an interesting theological substance. To believe in exorcists, ghosts and demons, the obvious truth is that one must then also believe in god.…
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Red Garden – 1 – Colourful teenage exuberance
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – 1 – Colourful teenage exuberanceMany people couldn’t be bothered with Vision of Escaflowne because the character designs sported big noses. The almost-ignored Fantastic Children suffered from this same shallow discrimination. I dare say both of these are modern classics, and now Red Garden will face the exact same battle against a community that largely considers the likes of Kanon…
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Black Blood Brothers – 1 – Elegantly swift bishounen attacks!
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Black Blood Brothers – 1 – Elegantly swift bishounen attacks!I was quite determined to find fault with Black Blood Brothers – I took my fair share of melodramatic bishounen-horror in Night Head Genesis and eventually rejected it, so I feared more of the same from this show. Typically I was wrong. While it won’t win many end-of-season plaudits for originality, Black Blood Brothers at…
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Death Note – 1 – Wicked, manipulative and morally deranged
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Death Note – 1 – Wicked, manipulative and morally derangedDeath Note is a Shounen Jump anime, but forget the generic conventions those two words invoke. Just like Bleach, this is a story that depicts the soul reaping world of “Shinigami” but where Bleach’s version of the afterlife is jammed with pouting pretty boys and nothing else, Death Note’s vision is dark, cold and lifeless.…
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Welcome to the NHK! – 13 – In a word, depressing
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – 13 – In a word, depressingFor some odd reason, I was expecting Satou to be the hero of this episode, but today I doubt he will ever be a hero – just like Yamazaki says, people “like him” aren’t suited to dramatic ends. In a word, depressing. Hitomi is selfish and cruel, her reasons for coming back into Satou’s life…
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Black Lagoon – 13 – People call it spinal reflex
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Black Lagoon – 13 – People call it spinal reflexMadhouse Studios have an exceptional talent for adapting manga – BECK, Monster and now Black Lagoon, they clearly devote a lot of careful thought to developing a specific style for their works; almost inevitably, they craft absolutely unique anime. I feel safe in saying that Black Lagoon’s flair for attention grabbing will never fade, such…