no matter where i run away to, it's still the same
“From the flesh eating monsters living on the boundaries of the orphanage to the sense of desolation when facing a situation that’s overwhelmingly difficult to escape. It’s a primal story that taps our natural instinct to break down the boundaries that constrict us.”
Dororo is not exactly a new story. It was written by the legendary Osamu Tezuka in 1967, so it’s a trivial thing to spoil. This was too good of an episode, though. I love Japanese folklore. I love ghost stories and weird tales. It swept me away. I wasn’t expecting it to look this beautiful. I need more.
Be prepared to feel confused and anxious, but also ready for an otherworldly atmosphere, where strange things run amok. Witches, Aliens, Clones. Things that eat people, things that save people, things that are vague and hard to understand. An undercurrent of desperation and suicide. It has much of the idiosyncratic rhythm of Boogiepop Phantom, but probably lacks the visual flair.
Anxious and otherworldly: Boogiepop and Others first impressions
The visual eccentricity of Mob Psycho 100
The new Mob Psycho 100 II trailer was released last week and I’m pumped! I admire its story but what’s really pushing me over the edge is the animation. It’s such a weird looking anime, heavily influenced by One’s manga, but brought to life by Bones in a rare and lavish attempt to go all out on a story that emphasises the rough and messy over the clean and consistent.
It’s easy at first. You just need to watch anime. That’s all it takes. For a few years, that’s all I did. I finished one anime and moved to the next. At some point though, things changed. I became curious and the sub-culture opened itself to me. Why anime? I don’t know. It’s been this way for a long time. I enjoy other hobbies, but anime, being an anime fan, is still important to me.
When it’s easier to pay than to pirate
Earlier this week, Netflix announced that it will begin streaming Neon Genesis Evangelion in April 2019. The 1995 Evangelion TV series is not only one of the most popular anime ever made, it’s also one of the rarest to own on US/UK home video. Since 2005, for various reasons, it has seen neither a home video release nor a legal internet stream, meaning a whole generation of Western anime fans…
Winning & losing, running & writing – Run with the Wind
If the end goal is to win, how easy is it to enjoy doing a thing?
Be it playing table tennis, running in a marathon or just writing for your blog, we do things for complicated reasons that don’t always mean having fun.
In Run with the Wind, Kakeru is a talented runner and the best in his team, but whilst the others are happy just competing in a race, he’s gutted that he wasn’t able to win. So…
Exciting new anime coming out in 2019
In the afterglow of last week’s Fruits Basket anime announcement, it dawned on me that 2019 is going to be a particularly exciting year for anime. Enthused, I dug a bit deeper into what 2019 has in store for us and, well, hold on to your hats!
Existential sci-fi manga! Identity & control in Toward the Terra
What is my place in this world? What am I supposed to be? I ask myself these questions every day.
There’s just no escaping anime, is there? (Autumn 2018 impressions)
It’s Autumn in the UK now. It’s cold and wet outside, the nights are drawing in and there’s the first inkling of frost in the mornings. Don’t fret though, a new anime season is here to keep us alive, so pour yourself a hot drink (unless you’re one of those weird people that doesn’t like hot drinks. I know you’re out there and I’ll never understand you) and settle in for some freshly baked, long…
Mourning her dearest Eren, Mikasa is ready to die, but in the final moments, just as a titan’s hand is about to clasp around her, she dodges. Because even at her lowest ebb and when everything seems hopeless, there’s still some spark in her to keep her moving.
And she fights. Even when the odds are so heavily stacked against her, she fights.
I love this scene in Attack on Titan. I could watch it a million times over. I’m a hopeful person too. I’m the guy that’s cheering on his team-mates as we’re being beaten. There’s always a way back, and it’s okay to lose, so long as you gave it your all.
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ぼくの好きな女の子 / My deary
(コミティア108)
Stairway to Heaven (by Noel Casaje)