Goku’s tenacity, desire to defend the helpless, and incredible strength make him one of anime’s most admirable characters. But not everything about Goku is so praiseworthy, specifically not his parenting skills. Throughout the Dragon Ball manga, Goku appears to care for and love his family—however, he’s constantly absent from his children’s lives. He missed most… Read More Newman’s Nook: Goku the Absent Father
Although we all accept Saiyans as part of the Dragon Ball universe now, it’s easy to forget that this whole concept, and the fact that Goku is not human but of this alien race, is introduced right at the start of the Dragon Ball Z. Mind you Goku had a tail, super strength, and could… Read More Newman’s Nook: Redemption of Vegeta
I recently finished reading the Dragon Ball manga. Yes, I know, I’m nearly 35 years late on reading it…and I know Dragon Ball and its sequel series are a ubiquitous part of anime culture. Well, I’m just starting it, so bear with me… Anyway, early on in the manga, we’re introduced to a turtle hermit… Read More Newman’s Nook: Roshi the Pervert and the Hero
In the first completed arc of Fist of the North Star, Kenshiro’s primary enemy is Shin. Shin was a former friend of Kenshiro’s who, due to his obsession with Yuria, the latter’s fiance, turned on Kenshiro and gave him the seven scars upon his chest. Shin then used the power of the South Star style… Read More Newman’s Nook: King Shin, the Saul of the Post-Apocalypse
Two weeks ago on Newman’s Nook, I spoke of Hanesaki from HANEBADO!. This time, I want to take a different view and talk about Nagisa Aragaki. A fantastic badminton player, Aragaki is the first to the practices and last to leave. She lives and breathes badminton, thinking of almost nothing else as an incredibly focused athlete.
When I first started watching HANEBADO!, I was expecting a sports anime similar to Haikyuu!! but with a predominantly female cast. In some ways, that’s what I got. In many other ways, it is nothing like that at all, the primary difference being the main character, Ayano Hanesaki who’s anger and jealousy define the series… Read More Newman’s Nook: The Anger and Jealousy of Hanesaki
In Episode 6 of Fist of the North Star we are introduced to…God Army. What is “God Army?” It’s a group of soldiers who believe that they are doing the will of their god. Their god is revealed in a later episode, but what they basically believe in is power over all else. They take… Read More Newman’s Nook: The God Army
Fist of the North Star is an anime series from the 1980s about a martial artist named Kenshiro who is…well, at the moment just wandering around helping people in a post-apocalyptic future set in the year 199X. In the first few episodes of Fist of the North Star, we are introduced to Bat. Bat is… Read More Newman’s Nook: Bat and Gehazi
Ninja Girl and Samurai Master (Nobunaga no Shinobi) is a short form anime series set during the warring states period of Japanese history coming from a historical fiction standpoint. In the current story arc we were recently introduced to a political, military, and Buddhist religious leader named Hongan-ji Kennyo. After his introduction, it becomes clear that… Read More Newman’s Nook: Amida is not Jesus
There are not a lot of anime that I’ve watched with married couples in them. Sure, there are some parents in the background, but showing a married couple at the forefront of the story, doesn’t happen all the time. When it’s all packaged in a short form series, I’m all in favor of checking it… Read More Newman’s Nook: Real Marriage and Short Anime Marriages