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Glad Tidings from the Tendo Family
Historical shoujo romantic drama is a relatively common subgenre of manga, and one that’s well-done more often than not. Veteran shoujo manga creator Ken Saito’s Tales of the…
February 2024 Mandarake Order Unboxing
John’s show and tell of his latest purchases from Mandarake.
Ask John: Who Will Influence the Future of Anime Development?
Question: In light of the recent losses of influential manga artists such as Kentaro Miura, Kazuki Takahashi, Buichi Terasawa, Takao Saito, Kazuhiko Kato, and Kazuo Koike, which current…
John’s Picks for 2023’s Best TV Anime
The number of new anime series made for Japanese television broadcast has steadily increased year over year since the dawn of modern television anime sixty years ago. However,…
Yutaka Minowa YouTube Interview
The Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube channel has published an hour-long face-to-face interview with animator Yutaka Minowa, veteran key animator, character designer of “Ninja Scroll” (1993), and animation director behind…
November Mandarake Order Unboxing
Check out the handful of new items I purchased from Mandarake of Japan.
Unboxing a Manga Grail
I placed a new order with Amazon Japan and also another order with Mandarake because Mandarake offered an exceptionally scarce manga key issue that I couldn’t resist purchasing.
October 2023 Mandarake Order Unboxing
I’m back again to share another selection of unique and novel anime items delivered from Japan. Highlights in this batch including the cameo first appearance of Piccolo and…
September 2023 Mandarake Order Unboxing
For the curious, I share what items I most recently acquired from Mandarake of Japan. Apologies for me looking a bit trashy. I’m a lazy, aging hermit. It’s…
Manga Worth a Take Two
Among the many appealing aspects of Japanese manga is the diversity of its genres and styles. Countless fans globally adore shonen adventure manga stories targeted at adolescent boys.…
Latest Manga 1st Appearance Acquisitions
On my adjunct professor salary, I don’t get to buy anime collectables as often as I’d like to. So these days I have to prioritize interesting and unusual…
Level 99 Villainess Recommendation
The “isekai” sub-genre of Japanese fantasy literature is defined by stories in which a character is migrated from Earth to a fantasy or futuristic sci-fi world. In recent…
Ask John: How Much Will AI Impact Anime?
Ask John: With the upcoming Black Jack manga being “co-produced” by Artificial Intelligence, what role do you believe Artificial Intelligence will have in anime production? Especially considering that…
Parallel World Pharmacy Mini-Review Contest
One Peace Books is running a mini-review contest for the new title Parallel World Pharmacy. Readers have until June 26 11:59 EST to post a short review sharing…
May 2023 Mandarake Order Unboxing
Curious collectors and hardy anime historians may be interested to see what oddities I acquired in my latest purchase from Mandarake of Japan. This video is a relatively…
Ask John: Why is Sailor Moon Such an Iconic Success?
Question: What makes Sailor Moon such an iconic global franchise among anime fans, despite other magical girl anime sharing similar traits such as action-oriented plots, drama, in-depth world-building…
Prescription for Manga: Parallel World Pharmacy
Although Japanese “isekai” stories of characters spirited away to or reincarnated in alternate worlds have been prominent since at least the 1980s, the fantasy sub-genre began an unprecedented…
Ask John: Can Anime Be As Empathetic As Live-Action?
Ask John: One of the reasons anime is popular is how relatable the characters and narratives are. We are empathetic and sympathetic due to them drawing upon real-world…
John’s Picks for 2022’s Best TV Anime
Having watched a lot of anime, I prefer to define any given year’s best works by recognizing the most creative, interesting, unique, and new titles. So I particularly…
Ask John: Why are there so few Anime About Yakuza and Burakumin?
Question: Do you know why there are so few serious anime that focuses on the Yakuza and Burakumin? Answer: As a foreign observer, I can only speculate, so…
December 2022 Mandarake Order Unboxing Part 2
On Saturday & Sunday, January 7-8, 2003, I’ll have a dealer table and present two anime panels at the St. Pete Comic Con in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.…
December 2022 Mandarake Order Unboxing Part 1
On Saturday & Sunday, January 7-8, 2003, I’ll have a dealer table and present two anime panels at the St. Pete Comic Con in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.…
Critiquing Captain Corinth
Japanese fantasy light novels typically fall into either the sci-fi or hard fantasy genres. Stories usually revolve around aliens and advanced technology, such as Yoshiki Tanaka’s Legend of…
Dirty Pair, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Crest of the Stars
Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex Short Released
Toho yesterday released its latest official Godzilla short film, Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex. The six-minute short has selectable English subtitles.
Usotoki Rhetoric Review
In a society that values politeness above nearly everything else, little white lies are commonplace in Japan. Polite or considerate lies are like the oil that keeps the…
Death Mage is Lively
The sub-genre of Japanese “isekai” fantasy light novels, stories about characters either transported to alternate worlds or reincarnated in alternate worlds, is so populated with titles and series…
Manga Heals the Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic
Kugayama Reki does a fine job of creating a manga adaptation of author Kurokata’s 2014 light novel The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic. The story introduces three…
The Wrong Way to Write About Using Healing Magic
The nature of Japanese light novels is to be simple, easy-reading, disposable literary entertainment. By design, light novels are only barely more literary than manga comic books. Moreover,…
Counting Out Kentoushi
I’m amused by the degree of satiric, hyperbolic offense that YouTube anime critic Kenny Lauderdale felt about the 1990 OVA Kentoushi. In an ironic way, I’m somewhat grateful…
John’s July 2022 Mandarake Order
See what new bargains and oddities I picked up in my recent purchase from Mandarake of Japan. The Comic Big Spirits magazine that I thought contained the first…
Ask John: What Makes Fantasy Anime Universally Loved?
Question: What exactly is it about anime that delves into the mythical that engages viewers on a global scale? Why has this form of storytelling persisted to the…
Ask John: Should Creators Be Allowed to Alter Their Prior Works?
Question: Do you believe when an anime creator or mangaka releases a work to the public that it’s final? Should an artist be able to go back and…
Ask John: Has Commercialism Reduced the Artistic Integrity of Anime?
Question: Do you think that the commercialization of anime has hindered its artistic integrity? Answer: The art form now recognized as anime has always been a commercial product.…
The Masterpiece “Music of Marie”
Contemporary mainstream avant-garde manga creator Usamaru Furuya may be best known to American readers for his off-kilter humorous stores Genkaku Picasso and Lychee Light Club. His two-volume 1999…
Shield Hero Audiobook 2 Coming Soon
Hot on the heels of the international premiere of the second season of the Rising of the Shield Hero anime series, One Peace Books will release the official…
Ask John: Why is the World Fascinated by Japan?
Question: As they say, “Imitation is the highest level of flattery” so what exactly is it about Japanese culture that compels foreigners to emulate it? What qualities does…
World Record Ghibli Collection!
French tattoo model & makeup artist Eloïse Jéglot has earned the Guinness World Record for the largest privately owned collection of Studio Ghibli memorabilia. Presently her collection numbers…
Ask John: What Separates Ecchi and Hentai Anime?
Question: In your opinion, when does an anime crossover from using sexuality as a narrative tool such as in Kiss x Sis, Aki Sora, School Days, Kodomo no…
Kiss x Sis, Kodomo no Jikan, Megazone 23, Mezzo, School Days
John’s Picks for 2021’s Best TV Anime
Strictly because I’m fascinated by the medium of anime, every year I try my hardest to watch a sampling of every new anime title. By my count, excluding…
Blade Runner: Black Lotus Subtle Similarities
Apart from the obvious parallels including police spinners, neon umbrella rods, and replicants with red reflections in their pupils, the Blade Runner: Black Lotus anime appears to contain…
Huzzah for Higehiro!
During the late 1990s and early 2000s Japan’s manga and anime fan community became infatuated with a figurative and literary concept called “moé.” Although the term partially referred…
Musings on Multi-Mind Mayhem
Although the modern variation of the “isekai” trope has existed within manga and anime since the early 1980s, the concept of a character swept away to a life…
Ask John: What Makes Certain Anime Evergreen?
Question: In your opinion, how is it that certain ideas in anime can last generations without becoming stale while others fall by the wayside? What separates something like…
Get Owned by the Baddest Girl in School
The romantic comedy and the sitcom of misunderstandings are global literary staples. The idea that opposites attract is a universally recognized trope. And the concepts of the “sukeban,”…
Ask John: Is Black Representation in Anime Increasing?
Question: Don’t know if you recently watched Netflix’s Yasuke (it could have been better) which was created by LeSean Thomas who also had notable projects in Legend of…
I Hear the Sunspot -Limit- 3 Review
Yuki Fumino’s subtly complex, resonant, and heartfelt dramatic manga series I Hear the Sunspot premiered in 2013 and has sporadically extended into five ongoing collected books. The touching…
February Mandarake Order Unboxing
In case anyone is interested in spending some time with me examining my latest purchases from Japan…
To Chara or Not Chara
The first episode of Non Non Biyori Nonstop doesn’t show a character’s face until nearly two-minutes into the episode. This sort of emphasis on atmosphere and tone was…
John’s Additional Picks for 2020’s Best TV Anime
I’ve observed Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Smile Down the Runway, Akudama Drive, Moriarty the Patriot, and Somali and the Forest Spirit as the best new anime series…
Akudama Drive, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Moriarty the Patriot, Smile Down the Runway, Somali and the Forest Spirit
John’s Picks for 2020’s Best TV Anime
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic affected Japan’s anime industry as it did everything else in the world, resulting in a potentially contracted spring broadcast season and a number of…