I perceived a fascinating juxtaposition in the new arc of Boogiepop and Others. Boogiepop refers to herself as a shinigami or the Reaper, aka Death, but what are we to make of the Imaginator? The Imaginator is obviously the villain, but I wondered why a villain should be referred to as “he who imagines”? While pondering… Read More Death vs. the Devil in Boogiepop and Others
Seasons greetings to our dear readers! Gintama ranges four seasons and 367 episodes at the present time and includes quite a few Christmas episodes. I have already written about the Christmas story told in episode 200. The present post concerns an earlier Christmas episode from season one. Gintama might be described as a science-fiction, samurai… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 4: Gintama
A.I.C.O. Incarnation found itself on my watch list very late in the season. Netflix is one of the last video streaming companies I look at—especially since they sometimes stream an anime after it’s aired. One nice bonus with Netflix, though, is that it has interesting options for a lover of foreign tongues like me: I… Read More Finding the Culture of Life in A.I.C.O. Incarnation
Gasaraki is one of the classic mecha anime. “If it’s a classic,” you ask, “why have I never heard of it before?” Despite the great animation (at least, to a connoisseur of 90’s anime like myself), many layers of intrigue, a unique plot, and great mecha battles, the dialog can be very abstruse–so abstruse that… Read More Gasaraki: the Collective, Conscience, and Freedom
May all of our dear readers be enjoying a blessed Advent! Having watched the original Irresponsible Captain Tylor anime, I thought that I would be writing about justice and mercy and the need to balance the two. However, while watching the “White Christmas” episode of the OVA, a blasphemous mural of the Madonna and child… Read More 12 Days of Anime Christmas, Day 6: The Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Reverence for the Sacred
Houseki no Kuni, also known as Land of the Lustrous, does a great job of crafting a mysterious and complex world with very few people. One of the most interesting developments in the world building comes from Phos’s digestion by a giant snail. After they get this monster under control and reconstitute Phos from the monster’s… Read More The Real Place of Phos’s People in Fractured Humanity
Recently, I gave the Read or Die manga a chance. The OVA and TV series have been great favorites of mine from my first years as an anime junkie. And so, I hoped for good things from the manga, which derived from a light novel–back when light novels had no special stigma against them. If… Read More The Laws of the Flesh and the Spirit in R.O.D.
I just finished watching WorldEnd: Etc. (Who would ever scribble out the entire title?) This stood as my favorite anime of the last season. (Though, my selection of anime series from the last season was quite small.) The author of this series did a wonderful job of world-building. Digressions on the world’s past did much… Read More WorldEnd: How Reincarnation Ruins Romance
While watching Berserk, it struck me that Griffith is essentially a type of Antichrist. Griffith deceives the nations with his power and glamour, has an army of demons at his beck and call, and has gained his power from hell. What could be more like the Antichrist? Yet, this sort of Antichrist is more like… Read More Is Griffith More Like Benson’s or Lewis’ Antichrist?
Berserk turns many people away with its sex, gore, perversion, and very dark world. Some might justly wonder whether the series has anything beyond sex, violence, and shock value, but there is plenty of good to the series also. Much of it comes in watching the heroes becomes better persons throughout the series. Many people know… Read More No One is Saved Alone: Farnese’s Journey to Virtue