I know there’s a Descending Stories anime. I think it’s on Tootsieroll, or whatever that service that Sony just bought is called, but I haven’t seen it. But I just finished the manga, all ten volum…
Mar 29, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
How to Build a Story: The Flowers of Evil (Part II)
Okay, last week we left the Flowers of Evil kids in the pits, as Acts I and II of the five that comprise the story resolve the first…
How to Build a Story: The Flowers of Evil (Part I)
Sawa Nakamura her own self I waited until the complete The Flowers of Evil manga set went on sale before picking it up. I won’t say that was…
How To Build a Series: Toradora
I always like a nice case of Stealth Storytelling. Look, in a lot of ways, when you have a really basic story what you’re really exploring is character…
How to Build a Series: Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is one of those things that looks like a delightful piece of fluff but is actually a masterclass in story construction when you look at it…
How to Build a Series: Samurai Champloo
I don’t talk enough about Samurai Champloo. I guess that’s because it’s Shinichiro Watanabe’s second series, and let’s be honest: Once you’ve made Cowboy Bebop there’s only one…
How To Build a Series: Steins;Gate
Steins;Gate is one of those things I saw a long time ago but never really had a chance to take a close look at until just recently. It’s…
How to Build a Series: Strike Witches
I’ll just say it: the neat thing about Strike Witches is that it’s like a good stew, a whole bunch of things thrown together that work together to…
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…
One-Punch Man, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Death Note, Ghost in the Shell
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…
How to Build a Series: Thermae Romae Novae
WARNING: This discussion violates my rule on not talking about anime that are just out. It contains spoilers! Be warned. In a lot of ways Thermae Romae Novae…
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…
How To Build a Series: Spy X Family
Okay, repeat after me: Stories don’t need conflict if you don’t want people to pay any attention to them. Of course, if you DO want people to like…
How to Build a Series: My Happy Marriage
Look, there are times when you can look at creating a story/series as being like cooking from a recipe. That doesn’t mean it’s going to work. You can…
How Not to Build a Series: Girls und Panzer
I REALLY REALLY wanted to like Girls und Panzer. Seriously, among other things I have been a World War II buff for years. My dad – Staff Sergeant…
How to Build a Series: Teasing Master Tagaki-san
I’ve been watching something utterly inane called Teasing Master Takagi-san on Netflix. To qualify, “Teasing Master” is a title, not a verb: Takagi does the teasing rather than…
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.…
How to Outline a Story or Novel
Outlining and My Novel Plotting Methodology I created a novel plotting methodology here . The methodology is broken up into two main phases...
How to build a zecha: from concept art to 3D model
Ever wonder how a 2D concept illustration ends up as a fully rendered 3D character in a game? It’s definitely a team effort involving several different artists. Let’s…
How to Cook a Story: Komi Can’t Communicate
Somehow I keep saying that Komi Can’t Communicate was something whose premise didn’t appeal to me. I’m going to say it again: Shoko Komi doesn’t need a hundred…
Garden of Sinners 1 – How to Build Atmosphere
I have always had a hard time explaining why I like the Kara no Kyoukai movies (or Garden of Sinners from now on) to the extent that I…
How Not to Start a Story: Heaven’s Design Team
The manga Heaven’s Design Team gets itself hyped with the blurb, “Does for zoology what Cells at Work! does for human biology.” I know this for a fact.…
How To Build a Series: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Reawakened
Okay, the Saiki K. series is a whole franchise built around a gag manga, and like any gag-based show, as long as the jokes keep coming, so do…
Spring 2024 Anime Week 0.5: How to Start a Story
April 6th, 2024 Spring 2024 is here! The start of any new anime season is always exciting. You experience the emotional highs of the shows from the past…
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…
A Story of How Your Summer Ends
This is the story of how your summer is ending. Summer time is often the time of living life, where students are free from school and adults are (somewhat)…
How Empathy Is Born From Stories
Once upon a time… there was a young traveller. During his journey, he gave money to everyone he met that told him sad, sad stories: a mother, who…
How Stories Create Layers of Emotions
There’s a time when you experience a story, and you feel this churning, weird feelings inside your heart. Somewhere deep inside your heart, you didn’t know if it…
How Silence is Portrayed in Stories
It was a moonless night; the forest has fallen into deep silence, and only the fire crackling sound of burning corpses resonate in the air, seemingly clinging onto…
How to Japanese Podcast – S03E03 – Murakami’s Origin Story
This week, I take a look at Murakami’s famous origin story with the help of writer and translator Matt Schley. We looked at ten different accounts of the…
How to Ruin Your Anime’s Story with Fanservice
You allowed yourself to get drawn into the story's emotional stakes, but these were only a springboard for fanservice.
Convention Stories: How a Cowboy Helped Us Get Out of a Mall
So this story takes place around Halloween of 2021 right after we attended both Anime Weekend Atlanta and Soda City Comic Con in the same weekend. Which was…
A Story to Die For
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
The Darkest Hour: How Stories Employ It
Inside most heroes’ journey, in order for them to win, they must first lose; to have their face slammed to the ground, their motivation crushed, as they cry…
A Story About an Otaku Saving Jeanne d’Arc (and Other Stories) by Maki
So, original Twitter comics seem to be a thing in 2021. I guess mangaka got bored at home on lockdown as well? I got turned on to a…
How My Brain is Different allows the neurodivergent to tell their own stories
When manga author Monzusu realized how poorly the general population understood neurodivergence, she sought out the stories of ordinary people with experiences similar to her own, eventually turning…
A 2U rackmount PC build
My 1U PC relocates. It has been a few months since I last built my 1U rackmount PC. It hasn’t given me any issues. Aside from a slightly…
A 4U rackmount PC build
The last piece of puzzle for my 16U rackmount setup. I’ve decided to move my main rig into a 4U unit, freeing up my desk and completing my…
Build A Harem Tag! (Comeback!)
It’s been almost about a year since I last posted in this little anime blog of mine, so why not come back with at least a grand comeback…
A Home Far Away - A Timeless Story on How We Fail People
After reading The Yakuza's Bias, I decided check out Teki Yatsuda's debut work, A Home Far Away. I heard many good things about this work and I wanted…
How to spot a Weeb 101
In case you are a weeb looking for other weebs, or a normie that’s confused here’s a quick and sure way to know how you’ve found the weeb.…
How To Commission a VTuber Model
In this article, you will learn how to commission a VTuber model and what do you need to hire an artist to commission a VTuber model.
How to Read a Japanese Payslip
When payday comes around, it's important to know how to read a Japanese payslip to understand your earnings, allowances and tax deductions.
How To Cook a Series: Nana
Nana is one of those things that’s actually easier to think about than a lot of anime, because it transcends the genre(s) in a specific way. Yeah, it’s…
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…
How To Cook a Series: Beastars
I’m taking a week off from shows going off the track, since even I don’t think it’s THAT interesting. I mean, you know, really. Problem: This is the…
How To Bake A Gundam Nugget
Here at Gunpla 101, we’ve published a lot of Gunpla building tutorials, but none quite like this one. Cross has developed a strategy to re-create a much-memed photo…
Diebuster – A Sequel to a Finished Story Done Right
In 1988-1989, Studio Gainax released Gunbuster, which was the directorial debut of a certain key animator named Hideaki Anno. Gunbuster was a new, inventive sci-fi OVA which broke…
How to Not Sound Like A Weeb
How does a weeb sound? That depends on vocal cord size, lung capacity, language, and–okay, the question deals with the words and references people use. First, what is…