Sailing the High Seas

I ended up caving for a subscription to my region's main licensing company somewhat recently, which got me thinking, what drives people to piracy in the first place? (...and no, when I say "pirates" in this post, I don't mean those pirates.) Important note: This post is not to defend piracy as a practice -...

Human Lost: Cyberpunk Crossing the Divides

Much like I took a song and wrote a sci-fi out of it, Human Lost does the same to Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human... ...that means it has vignettes including some of the iconic scenes of the novel, but since it's a sci-fi, it's also gotta stitch those vignettes together, for better or for worse....

Knowing the Nuance is Critical (A Fugou Keiji Post)

Fugou Keiji is pretty straightforward - rich guy meets poor guy (in relation to him), rich guy works with poor guy, rich guy ruins poor guy's life...okay, I'm kidding about that last bit... ...but what's not so straightforward is the nuance hidden in Japanese, which often doesn't get conveyed even if the translation is what...

A Connoisseur’s Guide to Anime Cheese

(...Yes, I'm going out on an extreme limb here and dedicating an entire post to weird cheese metaphors. Sue me.) I mention the word "cheesy" regarding some summer 2020 anime (hence the summer 2020 anime comparisons throughout this post), but to be honest, I have several meanings when it comes to that word. Note the...

Is Anime Childish?

Responding to Keni's post here. Keni says that anime is childish because it's escapism. That is a valid argument, but there's more to it than simply that. (He then derails the topic to discuss what anime taught him, but while the lessons anime teaches are universal and for any age group, I can't really refute...

The Ol’ Time Sink…Gacha Games…

I know this isn't a gaming blog, but since the only gacha games I devote myself to are anime-related anyway, then why not? I keep talking about HypMic ARB in my monthly round-up posts because COVID's knocked out several of the interesting things that can be done, but maybe I should elaborate on some of...

What About Korea and China?

I make my allegiance to Asia pretty obvious on this blog, but God of High School makes it apparent the situation is a lot trickier than I make it out to be... Normally anime fans - and indeed, most fans of Asia in general (from my experience) - flock towards three nations of that region...

Watch Out for Kaiju No. 8! (An Exercise in Translation)

One good thing about watching manga go live ASAP is how you can examine the translation process up close. Disclaimer: There is no such thing as a "truly correct translation". There is only a "more correct translation" or a "less correct translation", taking into account things like puns, references and the like. Viz is sure...

Venus Project: Climax Lives Up to Its Name

...It does, in a way. At first glance, Venus Project: Climax sounds like some kind of hentai, but it's not...and with only 6 episodes, it doesn't have much time to waste. The Anime Watching Club Boss Battle is to blame for this post. See, as of the time I write this, it's dealt me idol,...

Behold, the Universe is Full of Blessings!

Now that we're in our own version of the apocalypse...what did Owari no Seraph, Parasyte and others predict about the end? Meta note: This Planet With post finally came to life by splicing it with a more stream-of-consciousness kind of post which covers several anime (I called it "[an] Irina-like post") I had in my drafts....