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Featured image for Triple Plot: GosickBackground image for Triple Plot: Gosick

Triple Plot: Gosick

I watched Gosick because Mari Okada, the writer of O Maidens in Your Savage Season and director of Maboroshi, worked on it. Of course, she was the “Series…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for The Power of Three Minus One: Maison IkkokuBackground image for The Power of Three Minus One: Maison Ikkoku

The Power of Three Minus One: Maison Ikkoku

Metastable relationships – where the main characters are in love but can’t or won’t admit it – have been on my mind lately, possibly because for National Novel…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for How to Build a Series: Classroom of the EliteBackground image for How to Build a Series: Classroom of the Elite

How to Build a Series: Classroom of the Elite

Due to popular demand, we return to our anime-writing friends Salvati and Simplicito. You know, the guys Galileo used to explain how the Earth goes around the Sun.…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for How to Start a Series: DragonballBackground image for How to Start a Series: Dragonball

How to Start a Series: Dragonball

And I do mean Dragonball, the original series, because it was the start of it all. If the first one doesn’t work, Z and Kai and whatever others…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Idol GirlBackground image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Idol Girl

Oh, So Trope-ical: The Idol Girl


There are a lot of idol girls in anime. It’s almost unavoidable, right? The purpose of anime is to get eyeballs on the screen, and a key way…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

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Non-random Aside

Boy, it’s been a while since I did one of these, hasn’t it? But here it is, just a few hours after 12:00 AM November 1st, and I’m…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Kanna KamuiBackground image for Character Analysis: Kanna Kamui

Character Analysis: Kanna Kamui

Look, as cute as it is, there’s a fundamental problem with Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. Put simply, Tohru and Kobayashi form a complementary pair of characters that’s too…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Metastable RelationshipBackground image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Metastable Relationship

Oh, So Trope-ical: The Metastable Relationship

I’ve talked about metastable relationships in passing so many times it occurs that there’s something bigger going on there. And sho ‘nuf … The term metastable comes from…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for How to Build a Series: Death NoteBackground image for How to Build a Series: Death Note

How to Build a Series: Death Note

Death Note is one of those anime stories that tries to be deep by asking deep questions. There are others. Ghost in the Shell asks “What does it…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Ugly DucklingBackground image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Ugly Duckling

Oh, So Trope-ical: The Ugly Duckling

Oh, So Trope-ical: The Ugly Duckling Okay, you know the story of the Ugly Duckling and I know the story of the Ugly Duckling. It’s from Hans Christian…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for The Power of Three: Ghost in the ShellBackground image for The Power of Three: Ghost in the Shell

The Power of Three: Ghost in the Shell

Okay, we all know who the most interesting character in Ghost in the Shell is, and it’s the Major, Motoko Kusanagi. She has the choice between her human…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, so Trope-ical: Too Cool for SchoolBackground image for Oh, so Trope-ical: Too Cool for School

Oh, so Trope-ical: Too Cool for School

One of the things you typically look for in kids’ media … and remember, the target audience for most anime is slightly nerdy Japanese high school boys ……

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Tomo AizawaBackground image for Character Analysis: Tomo Aizawa

Character Analysis: Tomo Aizawa

Okay, I’m going to say it right up front: Tomo-chan is a Girl is pretty damned dumb. The hero, Tomo Aizawa, is dumb, the boy she’s hot for,…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Broken GirlBackground image for Oh, So Trope-ical: The Broken Girl

Oh, So Trope-ical: The Broken Girl

It sure seems like the number of anime where the kids belong to/come from a complete nuclear family with a mother and a father is pretty small. There…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Killer Ending: Steins;GateBackground image for Killer Ending: Steins;Gate

Killer Ending: Steins;Gate

Okay, the “gimmick” of Steins;Gate is that it’s adapted from a videogame and for the last third of the series – right, the third act in a three-act…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Ai HoshinoBackground image for Character Analysis: Ai Hoshino

Character Analysis: Ai Hoshino

There are a couple stories where a character who is the real driving force in the plot is behind the scenes for most or all of the series.…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

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Week Off!

I’m still here. I’m just taking a week off for REASONS. C ya next week.

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for How to Build a Series: TP BonBackground image for How to Build a Series: TP Bon

How to Build a Series: TP Bon

Okay, I write science fiction, so I’m a sucker for stuff like time travel as long as the writers can convincingly deploy handwavium. You know handwavium: “We can…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

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Blue Eye Anime

Okay, I THINK I’m coining a term here, and if I am I want credit for it. Blue eye anime. Take note. It’s mine. Let me call the…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Killer(?) Ending: Fruits BasketBackground image for Killer(?) Ending: Fruits Basket

Killer(?) Ending: Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket is not the sort of story anyone’d expect to talk about when they talk about killer endings, an ending that no one saw coming but makes…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Medium Matters: The Ancient Magus’ BrideBackground image for Medium Matters: The Ancient Magus’ Bride

Medium Matters: The Ancient Magus’ Bride

Way back a long time ago, as an experiment I started tracking The Ancient Magus’ Bride manga in real time, picking up the new books as they came…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Meta: Excel SagaBackground image for Oh, So Meta: Excel Saga

Oh, So Meta: Excel Saga

I’ve always been interested in things that are self-referential, or meta, if you prefer. This goes back to my college days, where we studied cybernetics. Sure. The Basic…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-ical: Raised by WolvesBackground image for Oh, So Trope-ical: Raised by Wolves

Oh, So Trope-ical: Raised by Wolves

Well, no, I don’t literally mean raised by actual, you know, wolves, since, you know that doesn’t really happen, the myth of Romulus and Remus aside. But what…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Gender Bender: Alice MurataBackground image for Gender Bender: Alice Murata

Gender Bender: Alice Murata

Shuzo Oshimi is my favorite mangaka. I may have mentioned that. He’s been working on a new book called Welcome Back, Alice. Hmm … the title of this…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Gender Bender: Neon Genesis EvangelionBackground image for Gender Bender: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Gender Bender: Neon Genesis Evangelion

All right, I suspect people are going to expect me to talk about Kaworu Nagisa here. Dude is pretty interested in Shinji, isn’t he? (wink wink nudge nudge)…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Gender Bender: Paradise KissBackground image for Gender Bender: Paradise Kiss

Gender Bender: Paradise Kiss

If you weren’t watching, Paradise Kiss is an earlier work by Ai Yazawa, the mangaka who gave us Nana. (It has to be an earlier work since she…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Gender Bender: MizuBackground image for Gender Bender: Mizu

Gender Bender: Mizu

There should be a name for American shows that are informed by anime style but American tropes. After watching Blue Eye Samurai, I think they should be called…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

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Story Drop

Man, I like writing these. I mean, you know what I do here is write about anime and manga from my perspective as a writer, right? Well, lemme…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Gender Bender: Mei AiharaBackground image for Gender Bender: Mei Aihara

Gender Bender: Mei Aihara

For reasons I’ve been thinking about Citrus again. Well, actually the reasons are pretty simple. Mei and Yuzu Aihara are simultaneously classmates, step-sisters, roommates, and lovers, and if…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-cal: I Can’t Say “I Love You”Background image for Oh, So Trope-cal: I Can’t Say “I Love You”

Oh, So Trope-cal: I Can’t Say “I Love You”

Look, if you’re writing a popular romance manga, or an anime made from a popular romance manga, you often have a big problem: How do you keep the…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Killer Ending: Kids on the SlopeBackground image for Killer Ending: Kids on the Slope

Killer Ending: Kids on the Slope

You may not remember Kids on the Slope, the series by Shinichiro Watanabe. You know, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Carole and Tuesday … yeah, THAT Shinichiro Watanabe. Not…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Kaguya ShinomiyaBackground image for Character Analysis: Kaguya Shinomiya

Character Analysis: Kaguya Shinomiya

Kaguya-sama Love is War is one of those shows that knows what it is and isn’t any more than that. Dude it’s a rom-com, with emphasis on the…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for How to Build a Series: Knights of SidoniaBackground image for How to Build a Series: Knights of Sidonia

How to Build a Series: Knights of Sidonia

There are some shows that are constructed so cleverly that I would give anything to be a fly on the wall during their development meetings. In fact, I…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Eikichi OnizukaBackground image for Character Analysis: Eikichi Onizuka

Character Analysis: Eikichi Onizuka

I tell you no lies: I was watching Great Teacher Onizuka on a relatively unknown streaming service when it dropped on a much larger and more famous service.…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Killer Ending: Your Lie in AprilBackground image for Killer Ending: Your Lie in April

Killer Ending: Your Lie in April

It’s fun to watch something like Your Lie in April that looks on the face of it like a piece of fluff, but when you peel back the…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for The Power of Two: Kaguya-sama Love is WarBackground image for The Power of Two: Kaguya-sama Love is War

The Power of Two: Kaguya-sama Love is War

Most of the time when you look at a narrative couple they fall into one of two types: They are symmetric, meaning they have similar strengths and weaknesses,…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trope-ical: PinocchioBackground image for Oh, So Trope-ical: Pinocchio

Oh, So Trope-ical: Pinocchio

Yeah, yeah, you’re saying to yourself that Pinocchio wasn’t an anime. First of all, that’s not entirely true. In fact, there have been TWO Pinocchio anime series, one…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for How (Not) to End a Story: Love, Chunibiyo, and Other DelusionsBackground image for How (Not) to End a Story: Love, Chunibiyo, and Other Delusions

How (Not) to End a Story: Love, Chunibiyo, and Other Delusions

There’s something so cute about Love, Chunibiyo, and Other Delusions that make it close to irresistible, isn’t there? Yuta is basically such a nice young man, so earnest…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for The Power of Three: Darling in the FranxxBackground image for The Power of Three: Darling in the Franxx

The Power of Three: Darling in the Franxx

Everyone loves a good mecha story. Well, at least the manga/anime target audience – slightly-nerdy teen-aged Japanese boys – loves a good mecha story. Consequently, there are lots…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Rotoscope and You: OnimushaBackground image for Rotoscope and You: Onimusha

Rotoscope and You: Onimusha

Onimusha is something I wouldn’t ordinarily watch. I don’t like stories that are based on demons, or based on fighting demons with magic artifacts, because once you get…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Oh, So Trop(e)ical: The Dirty Old ManBackground image for Oh, So Trop(e)ical: The Dirty Old Man

Oh, So Trop(e)ical: The Dirty Old Man

It seems like just about every anime comedy with a romantic plot or subplot has at least one dirty old man. Well, not ALL of them. Those that…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Animation: How Many Fingers?Background image for Animation: How Many Fingers?

Animation: How Many Fingers?

Sometimes things come together in weird ways. Like, really weird. So in my Intro Communication class this week – Which was weeks ago as you read this but…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Takeo GodaBackground image for Character Analysis: Takeo Goda

Character Analysis: Takeo Goda

If you look at My Love Story!!, the first temptation is to look at the main characters, Takeo Goda and Rinko Yamato, as a pair. For instance, she…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analys(e)s: Loyd, Tor, and Anya ForgerBackground image for Character Analys(e)s: Loyd, Tor, and Anya Forger

Character Analys(e)s: Loyd, Tor, and Anya Forger

In certain ways all three main characters from Spy X Family are really simply constructed. Watch me now: Loyd is a heartless spy but isn’t really heartlessAnya is…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Story Drop!Background image for Story Drop!

Story Drop!

Man, it’s been a while! Damn COVID … ANYWAY, here’s the flash fiction anthology 99 Fleeting Fantasies. It includes my piece Nidus of Alms. It’s available starting today…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for The Power of Three: Welcome Back, AliceBackground image for The Power of Three: Welcome Back, Alice

The Power of Three: Welcome Back, Alice

I’ve made my appreciation for the work of Shuzo Oshimi very plain at times. Oshimi is the magaka behind The Flowers of Evil, Inside Mari, and Blood on…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for What’s in a Name? Seihu High SchoolBackground image for What’s in a Name? Seihu High School

What’s in a Name? Seihu High School

I always let myself do something stupid for an anniversary post, and since my anniversary was Feb 2, here ya go: Last year at this time I didn’t…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for What Did I Just Watch: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budukon I Would DieBackground image for What Did I Just Watch: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budukon I Would Die

What Did I Just Watch: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budukon I Would Die

Look, first of all, I’m not writing out that whole title again. From now on this show will be called My Favorite Pop Idol, and if the author,…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for The Power of Three: Steins;GateBackground image for The Power of Three: Steins;Gate

The Power of Three: Steins;Gate

I was thinking about Steins;Gate for a different reason when I hit on why it works narratively. Because it shouldn’t, you know. Steins;Gate is really kind of a…

Confessions of an Overage otaku

Featured image for Character Analysis: Honey KisaragiBackground image for Character Analysis: Honey Kisaragi

Character Analysis: Honey Kisaragi

Let’s start with this: Honey Kisaragi, the android star of Cutie Honey, is an artifact of her age. She was born back in ’73. That was a turbulent…

Confessions of an Overage otaku