For 2022, I decided to tackle a number of manga that I had not yet read. Some I owned digitally via older Humble Bundles. Others were planned based on recommendations from friends. One of those recommendations was Bakuman—which was from the creators of Death Note. Much like that series, Bakuman is an thrilling manga with… Read More Newman’s Nook: Bakuman and Women
Hatchan the Villain It’s during the Arlong Park Arc of One Piece that readers are first introduced to a group of fishmen who, led by Arlong, have taken over Cocoyasi Village, the home of Straw Hat navigator Nami. It’s a distressing development, as Nami had spent years trying to raise the funds to free her… Read More Newman’s Nook: The Parable of Hatchan
One Piece is a long-running story about pirates. It is one of the biggest franchises in the world. A huge reason for that, in my opinion, is how the characters relate to each other. These pirates are a real family. Let’s give a few examples. Nico Robin When we are first introduced to Nico Robin… Read More Newman’s Nook: Pirate Family
Angels are prominent figures in our culture and others, and have been for thousands of years. They are biblical beings that are commonly used culturally to connect a story to the Christian God. In classic European and American art, angels were generally portrayed in two main ways, as fat babies or normal humans with flowing… Read More Newman’s Nook: Biblical vs. Cultural Angels
I first watched Neon Genesis Evangelion as an 18 year old, new to the anime medium. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I was just enthralled by all the large-scale combat between the angels and the Eva units. With the series dropping on Netflix, I decided to re-watch the series in 2020. Let me tell you, now as… Read More Newman’s Nook: What’s in a Name?
A few weeks back, I was looking through my Twitter analytics and something hit me: I realized that I’d been losing followers pretty much all year. It was to be expected—I had a modestly-sized Twitter account that had grown initially based on my political tweets (my politics have since changed) and from parenting tweets. My… Read More Newman’s Nook: Welcoming as Straw Hats
Sukeyo Fuchi was a renowned stage performer, a beauty well known for her gripping performances. Her daughter, Kasane, however, is known as the ugly girl in school and is openly mocked. When Sukeyo dies, Kasane remembers her mother telling her to take a certain lipstick out of her drawer to use it for herself. Stolen… Read More Newman’s Nook: I Am Kasane