12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 3: Sword Art Online, Death and Birth

Yo ho ho, piratical Christmas?! I’ve kind of made it a personal challenge as to how many posts I can write out of “Red Nosed Reindeer,” the third episode of Sword Art Online. (I believe this is my third.) This time, I want to explore the contrasting attitudes toward death displayed in the episode. Death… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 3: Sword Art Online, Death and Birth

Review: Sword Art Online The Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night

As the Light Novel Club discussed a few months ago, the original Sword Art Online vol. 1 skipped over nearly two years of events in Aincrad, jumping from the day people became trapped in the game all the way up to shortly before the death-game ends. Short stories in later main-series volumes helped fill in… Read More Review: Sword Art Online The Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night

Light Novel Club Chapter 34: Sword Art Online Progressive, Vol. 1

Yo! In my admittedly limited experience, Sword Art Online seems to be one the most polarizing anime around. People are either “We hates it, Precious!” or “It’s awesome!” Nobody ever says “Sword Art Online? What’s that?” Well, after the original light novel became a series (one which is up to twenty-two volumes now), author Reki… Read More Light Novel Club Chapter 34: Sword Art Online Progressive, Vol. 1

Reader’s Corner: She’s the Cutest, Mint Chocolate, and Assassin’s Creed

Mint Chocolate, Vol. 1 Of all the variations of the incest romance one might find out there, the “stepsiblings who meet as teens” variant is probably the most “acceptable” for most people. After all, when you have someone like the protagonist of this shoujo manga, Nanami, who finds out that her new stepbrother Kyouhei is… Read More Reader’s Corner: She’s the Cutest, Mint Chocolate, and Assassin’s Creed

First Impression: Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World

Like the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender, the newest anime adapation of a light novel, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World, features hundred-year war. The belligerents are the magic-intolerant Empire (no further name is given) and the pro-magic Sovereignty. In the prologue, imperial warrior prodigy Iska receives the title Saint… Read More First Impression: Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World