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 are more realistic in look and feel – think Toradora – …
Mar 11, 2024 • Subscribe
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Oh, So Trope-ical: The Oaf
I’ve written a bunch of times about one trope, the Soul Woman. You know who she is: She’s a main character who, when you break her down into…
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…
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…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Superhero Doctor
Regular readers know I bring a few perspectives to these posts. Published writer looking at writing. Award-winning animator looking at animation. And yeah, I can do the critic/critique…
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…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Big Brother
For storytelling reasons heroes often have sidekicks. Sure, right? A sidekick can do a lot of things, like be comic relief, or have some skill that the hero…
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…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Hair Bra
The point of manga and anime is to get eyeballs onto content, whether it’s paid for directly (by buying manga) or indirectly (by ad sales during anime). In…
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…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Gamer God
There are certain tropes that are so obvious it’s almost a waste of time to look at them. Oh, man, what’s the point of the Princess in Peril…
Oh, So Trope-ical: Pawn Queens
There’s a really great character trope out there if the writers are careful in how they deploy it. You know what it is. The title says it. I…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Sexually Aggressive Gal
Yeah, I started spelling it Trope-ical. There’s no point in a pun no one gets. But yeah, there are a lot of tropes in storytelling. That’s not an…
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…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Infantilized High School Girl
The Law of Tropes #1: Tropes is tropes because they work. Right? Certain characters/situations/relationships are common because users recognize them and understand them, and because they do somethi…
Oh So Trope-ical: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Tropes are one of those things that I’ve mentioned about a zillion times but never actually talked about. There’s probably a formal definition, but a trope is basically…
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 ……
Oh, So Tropical: The Chosen One
The essence of The Chosen One trope is that there is someone out there in the universe who has been Marked by Fate (or the Gods, or whomever)…
Oh, So Tropical: The Nose Bleed
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: tropes exist because they work. If you’re a writer like I am, tropes is your friend. Here’s a question…
Oh, So Tropical: The Soul Girl
I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at a trio of characters and seen them forming a classic Mind-Body-Soul trio. Sure. How about Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles,…
Oh, So Tropical: The Family Princess
I started out wanting to do a character analysis of Rea Sanka, the main female character (and namesake) of Sankarea, Undying Love, but I ran into a little…
Dog Signal Episode 15 Review – The Old Man And The Old Dog
A very bittersweet and emotional story about two old beings.
Old Man Reminisces with Cloud
Twenty-five years of fandom feels like entirely too long. That’s more than half my life. Yet, a quarter century later, MAHQ hits an anniversary that few nerd-ass websites…
Oh, So Tropical: The Princess in Peril
You know that the Princess in Peril is one of the oldest tropes in film, let along anime, right? I mean, seriously, The Perils of Pauline was made…
Oh, So Tropical: The Pre-pubescent Horndog
As a writer I love tropes. Tropes are tropes because they work in telling good stories. Sure. Take the “Hero-Sidekick-Girlfriend” trio, right? You can use that interrelationship to…
Oh, So Tropical: The Stupid Harem Protagonist
You’ve seen harem shows. Just admit it. Admit that you are powerless, and put yourself in the hands of a higher power. No, wait. That’s for alcohol. But…
Oh, So Tropical: The Convenient Stomach Rumble
I’m a writer so I can say this: There are a lot of gimmicks writers use to keep the story moving. For instance, the great crime writer Raymond…
Oh So Mysterious! The Mystery Blogger Award!
Well Curtis, aka ospreyshire, nominated me for this oh so mysterious award and all I can say is thank you! Check out his post HERE. Honestly it surprises…
Oh, So Tropical: Avatar: The Last Airbender
I had a date with a nice lady whose only experience of anime was Avatar: The Last Airbender. “I wonder what you think of it?” she said. Well,…
Sex & Love & Hentai, oh my!– Quick and Dirty for the normies
Alright everyone, it time. Let’s talk about it. So for a long time anime has had a bad rap for being too sexual. But we otaku know it’s…
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…
Oh, So Meta: Lucky Star
There’s just something so addictive about Lucky Star. I don’t know about you, but I can watch it over and over. And I have. And it cracks me…
8 Man After – Old Fashion Heroism?
It’s a dangerous thing to randomly watch an ova and wonder about the franchise it connects to. I picked up a dvd of this ova series at Sakura-con…
Old-school Special Effects with S(e)oul
Welcome to Maser Patrol, a weblog that covers Japanese genre fiction. But, it being April Fool’s Day, imagine if we did something crazy, like punking readers by instead…
Oh, So Tropical: The Look-at-Me Woman
You know what? I think I may have discovered a whole new trope. Okay, let’s start with this fundamental fact: Anime is a medium largely created by Japanese…
An Ode to the Old Man Who Loved Anime
There's no such thing as growing too old to enjoy something.
'The Old Man and the Sea' Is a Tremendous Spectacle
Plus: international animation news.
Oh Me, Oh My, OVA! β: We'll Have a Horrorshow Old Time!
It's that time of the year again, when a day that technically means "All Hallows' Eve", as in "the day before we celebrate the lives of all ...
So You Want to Collect Ukiyo-e?
Ukiyo-e translates to “images of the floating world.” The Floating World refers to the pleasure districts of the Edo period. This was the world of actors, prostitutes, geisha,…
Oh, So Tropical: The He-Can’t-Love-Me Woman
In a lot of ways romance animes are some of the dumbest on the air. I mean, seriously? You have Person A and Person B and everyone knows…
Tadanari Okamoto in 1981: “The White Elephant” and “Old Man Frypan”
This month marks five years since this humble blog was started with a large post, by the long-gone and controversial tamerlane, about Russian animation. At first, it was…
Oh, So Tropical: The “Nice To Meet You, Ms. Ayanami”
There are some anime you watch – I’m looking at YOU What Are You Doing Here Teacher – where you watch it and all you take away from…
Dirty Pair (Episode 18) – Pardon Us. Trouble’s On the Run, So We’re Coming Through!
Kei and Yuri capture a petty criminal and are transporting him to the police when someone tries to kill them. Is someone after them or BJ? No matter…
What is PUTTSUN? Analyzing Jotaro’s Old Man Slang (VIDEO)
In this video, I break down the word puttsun by examining a specific line from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3 (Stardust Crusaders). Putssun (プッツン) means to
JapanKyo – Exploring Japan today via videos, podcasts, and articles
Ozen (made in abyss) was originally an old man...
Ozen, from Made in Abyss, was said be the author originally to be an old man. Ozen (Ozen the immovable, the immovable Lord) is a supporting character from Made…
Classroom of the Elite, Classroom of the Elite Season 2, Made in Abyss, Overlord, Overlord IV
DotAGE Review: Old Man Yells at…Dozens of People
DotAGE is the long-term passion project of sole developer Michele Pirovano, following a village elder’s recollection of how their village got its start. A village simulator with a…
Interview: How the Staff of She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man Made An Old Man Cute
ANN spoke to the novel author Hirotsugu Ryusen, as well as director Keitaro Motonaga and screenwriter Takamitsu Kouno about how they made Danblf's transformation a reality.
The Not-so-Moving Gundam: Gundam Next Future Pavilion & the RX-78F00/E
I might be a week late for this update, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give my unsolicited thoughts. Last week, Bandai Namco released their Gundam Conference update…
Twenty Five Years Fights Kenshiro! The All About Man Punishes Old Typewriting!
"Yeah. I'm looking at you."My Twenty-Five Year Love Affair with Kenshiro (or does this headline make me look gay?)It all started in Ben Dunn's living room, sometime during…
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The Otakusphere: Turkey Day, Different Opinions and, man, do I feel old
Good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are in internetland. It’s Sunday in my corner of the hinterlands, which means it’s time for another trip around the Otakusphere.…
So... I Finished Reading Chainsaw Man | PART 3
This month I read all of Chainsaw Man's first part! And along the way I want to show you my blind reactions, my review for and my immediate…