I think I have a new favourite game, and it’s one that everyone already played over a decade ago. I’m talking, of course, of Cave Story, one of the first really big indie gaming smash hits. It’s a game often talked about in these glowing, reverent tones as being one of those unassailable masterpieces that… Read More Studio Pixel’s Games
The anime which has been most on my mind lately is The Ancient Magus’ Bride. Which I find to be a tad unfortunate, as it has already gotten a rather thorough work-out on this site. So I want to step back a little bit and consider fantasy and fairy tales more generally – for part… Read More What Is Fantasy?
Us liturgical Christians are in the middle of Lent, a penitential season marked by prayer, fasting and almsgiving in preparation for Easter. It recalls the forty days that Christ spent fasting in the desert, in preparation for his ministry (Matthew 4:1-2). It’s the season that I struggle the most with, where I can feel a… Read More A Lenten Haruhi Suzumiya
Kodansha Comics has recently begun reissuing one of my favourite manga, which has long been out of print—Battle Angel Alita. It’s been long enough since I last picked an issue up to make this something of a rediscovery for me, especially with regard to Yukito Kishiro’s art, which feels almost expressionistic in its starkness and… Read More Bodies in Battle Angel Alita
It’s been a little while since I’ve talked about JRPGs, so with the new year upon us, it seems fitting to take a glance at the JRPGs of 2017 that I played. For all that it was a less than pleasant year in other respects, it also proved to be a pretty stellar year in… Read More 2017 JRPG Roundup
I watched Tokyo Godfathers for the first time recently, and, in addition to inspiring the ink drawing above, the thing brought me to the point of tears. The third movie directed by the late Satoshi Kon, it tells the story of three homeless people who find an abandoned baby girl on Christmas Eve and embark… Read More 12 Days of Anime Christmas, Day 1: Tokyo Godfathers
Naoki Urasawa’s horror/thriller manga, Monster, begins as if it’s going to be a medical drama. Dr. Tenma, a talented young surgeon, is working at the Eisler Memorial Hospital in Western Berlin during the mid-80’s. His experiences there are dispiriting, as he finds that the hospital administration takes a mercenary attitude towards the profession, showing favoritism… Read More The Good, the Bad and the Monstrous
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