Have you ever been on the receiving end of bullying so relentless that you feel there’s no hope that life will ever get better? Episode six of Oshi no Ko expertly helps us understand that feeling through actress Akane Kurokawa’s eyes as she drowns in a sea of criticism and bullying. And having previously shown… Read More Akane Kurokawa and a Savior Who Sees and Saves
I usually read up on anime before watching them, trying to get a feel for the content and whether it’s something I’d enjoy. One show I ending up deciding not to watch, despite the high regard in which many hold it, is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. After reading about PMMM, I still tried the first… Read More Despising the Shame of Heroic Hypocrisy
Review Have you ever wondered what would happen if silly, alternate versions of the Christian Messiah, Jesus, and the first Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, were living together in an apartment in modern Japan? No? Well, Saint Young Men (Seinto Oniisan) by Hikaru Nakamura attempts to answer that question anyways. The first chapter of the manga jumps… Read More Manga Review: Saint Young Men, Volume 1
Day 1: Hero Beneath the Tangles seems to have slipped into an inadvertent biennial tradition of writing about Sword Art Online‘s Christmas episode (the third episode of the series). Others wrote about it two years and four years ago, respectively, and now I want to take a turn at it. I’m sure you already know… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime: Sword Art Online Episode 3, Take 3
When Soma Kisa is introduced in Fruits Basket, she has been facing bullying and, traumatized by the situation, stopped speaking. She also quit going to school, and so eventually she receives a letter from her teacher asking her to come back. Fortunately for the audience, we have Soma Hatsuharu and Soma Yuki around to read… Read More Finding Love in the Face of Self-Loathing
Fate Apocrypha opens with the ambiguous words of an unidentified voice: “This is not a tale of servants. Nor is this a tale of masters. And not a tale of saints, either. This is a tale…where a man grants his wish.” (1.1 “Apocrypha: The Great Holy Grail War”). One of the series’ tasks is to… Read More Fate Apocrypha: Selflessness and Selfishness
He is risen! If you go to church or are around Christians much today, you’ll likely hear this phrase repeated a lot, followed by “He is risen indeed!” Again and again, we repeat to each other the good news: Jesus Christ, God in flesh, the perfect man, who died on our behalf, has risen from… Read More Easter 2017: The Hope of Resurrection