As a long-time fan of Super Smash Bros., I’ve been curious about the recent expansion of the “platform fighter” subgenre, especially in indie gaming. Over the past six years or so, more and more titles have been developed that follow the basic Smash formula. I’ve mostly watched tournament matches to try and get a sense […]
Apr 12, 2020 • Subscribe
More like this
The King of Fighters XV
The King of Fighters XV doesn't find the series at its prettiest, boldest, or most densely populated and varied in characters. Yet this might be the most accessible…
The Fan Service Question Or: Do Ethical Defects Mar Works Of Art?
Is an ethical defect of a work of art relevant to its aesthetic evaluation? We haven’t really done a topical, non-anime-specific show before. Let us know if you…
Japan: The Platform Superpower
#platforms #bakuman #yourname Captions are available! This is Part Two of a two-part video series with Marc Steinberg, the first one (on Media Mix) can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbXS-8je62M Huge thanks to…
The Missing Manga Platform
I’ve been reading online comics since they were probably a thing. I loved catching up on Penny Arcade, Mega Tokyo, and XKCD, and have kept up the habit…
Gundam Build Fighters and the Power of Toy Anime
Gundam Build Fighters is a toy show through and through. It also just happens to be some of the most fun we had with an anime in a…
The Burning Question
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
A Question of Semantics
Bloggers exist in a world of words. What happens when words mean different things to people. Semantics can be frustrating but also magic.
The King of Fighters 15 (ACTUAL Review)
The King of Fighters XV – yeah, there’s somehow already 15 of these. It was one of my most anticipated fighting games of the year, so let’s go…
Adachi and Shimamura Episode 5: The Question
What better way to cap off my special day than to talk about the latest episode of my #2 show of Fall 2020. Fans of a certain sparkly…
Anime: To Binge or not To Binge? That is the Question!
In general, I’ve always had the opinion that binge watching anime series is a wonderful advancement of the modern streaming world. If you could have all the enjoyment…
In Defense Of Anime And Manga Piracy
With the recent crackdown on Kissanime, and possibly other sites, I wanted to put my thoughts on piracy out there as somebody from a country with almost no…
The Plamo of a Double Feature – Gundam Build Fighters & Gundam Build Fighters Try Spoiler Reviews
Ah, Mobile Suit Gundam… it’s kind of a marvel that no entries in such a huge and venerable series had made it onto the review blog up until…
Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Build Fighters Try, Mobile Suit Gundam
Important Question
Actually, two important questions. Full disclosure: this doesn’t have anything to do with a blogging project (although I may blog about it at some point way in the…
In defense of clichés
***I’m still on vacation so this is another repost of one of my older posts – It’s one that I’ve always liked and not many people have seen…
In defense of clichés
Welcome to another instalment of Irina defends things that don’t need defending. I find myself frequently commenting on the benefits of stereotypes. I understand that lack of novelty…
Gundam Build Fighters
Gundam gets honest and drops the pretense
Gundam Build Fighters, Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
Gundam Build Fighters
By Andrew Osmond. Gundam Build Fighters is about a hyper-enthused little boy, so it makes sense it was directed by Kenji Nagasaki, who’d go on to direct a…
500 Word Game Reviews – The King of Fighters 2002
Arcade fighting games really aren’t my thing, but I’ve been enjoying the second series of Hi Score Girl so much that I thought I’d give one a chance.…
Mashle and the Difference Between Fighting and Self-Defense
In the past few years, I’ve developed a terrible interest in reading and viewing arguments about martial arts, from kung fu to MMA and beyond. There’s a combination…
Anime Philosophy: The Morality Question
Since I haven’t been posting regularly on the blog as of late and don’t feel quite up to catching up to all of my reviews right away since…
Death Note, Elfen Lied, Kaiji - Ultimate Survivor, Tokyo Ghoul
In Defense of... Holo the Wise Wolf
~~You sing along to the traveler's song... how I wish I knew the words...~~ On the eve of a new anime series, let's briefly look at what one of…
In Defense Of... The LEGENDARY Tae Yamada
Throughout the story of Zombieland Saga, one member of Franchouchou stands as a beacon of self-confidence, passion and power. Let's talk about how Mappa portrayed disability in the…
Castle Town Dandelion or How A Cutsey Slice of Life Got Me to Question the Fundamental Structures of Power
Castle Town Dandelion is a weird mish mash of genres. It may not work for everyone but I liked it a whole lot. Let me tell you why!
Gundam Build Fighters Try: A Purity of Soul and Fighting Spirit
If you noticed when I first talked about Gundam Build Fighters, I never mentioned how the series could easily be compared to G Gundam. It is also possible…
Books: Anime Streaming Platform Wars
By Jonathan Clements. Sneaked out this week by Concordia University’s Platform Lab, Anime Streaming Platform Wars might sound like an oddly business-focussed computer game, but is actually a…
An OreImo question.
So I like just about every other anime fan out there has been watching the series My Little Sister Can’t Be This Fuckable. This is the first anime…
#MechaMarch Question 4
Once again, a massive thanks to all those who got involved in my Mecha Questions fun. I wasn’t sure this would get anyone involved or interested. Once again,…
In Defense of Steven Universe
"Steven Universe Bad" has been a meme for too long. Today I debunk and respond to E;R & EzPz - their notoriously awful and influential videos by…
In Defense of NES Strider
One truly lost element of the game industry is the fascinating divide between arcade titles and their console descendants. Prior to the m...
In Defense of... Haruhi Suzumiya
The award winning essay (true story) adapted for Youtube. There was never and will never be another like her. Why you must love Haruhi Suzumiya. Original essay: https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/5bucfk/best_character_writing_contest_winners/ Edited by…
In Defense of Pikmin 2
Schaffrillas released a really bad video on Pikmin 2 & unfortunately due to his size as a creator it is the leading video on Pikmin 2. Here's…
In Defense of Gateway Anime
Yes, it’s true There are a lot of cynical people in the anime community that think you’re a tasteless noob if you just so happen to love a…
Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, One-Punch Man, Sword Art Online
A Cautious Defense of Fandoms
I’ve done a few defense posts in the past. I’ve had very debatable success with them but it seems I still haven’t learned my lesson. In many ways…
The King of Fighters: A New Beginning Volume 1 Review
Title: The King of Fighters: A New BeginningGenre: Fighting, Supernatural, Video GamePublisher: Kodansha (JP), Seven Seas (US)Creator: Kyotarou AzumaSerialized in: Magazine PocketLocalization Staff: Daniel Komen (Translation), Roland &…
Review: Gundam Build Fighters
Mobile Suit Gundam and its tie in line of model kits have always marched in lockstep. If the anime gets a cool new giant robot it wasn’t long…
86 – 06 – Just a Question of When
Now that the ghostly, ghastly sci-fi horror elements of 86 have been introduced, we look back to worse times when Shin found the headless corpse of his brother…
An Earnest Defense of Gene Deitch’s The Hobbit
If there's any short film that deserves a better reputation than it has, it's this one.
Kaiju No. 8 (Volume 3) – Welcome to the Defense Force
As Kaiju No.8, Kafka fought back the other kaiju that transformed from a human form. He would have killed it had the Defense Force not found them. Then,…
Interview: The King of Fighters XV Creative Director Eisuke Ogura and Game Director Kaito Soranaka
We caught up with The King of Fighters XV creative director Eisuke Ogura and game director Kaito Soranaka to find out their thoughts, inspirations for the combat, and…
In Defense of Rachel (Tower of God)
Warning: Spoilers for Tower of God season 1 Tower of God is interesting. It’s simple but very engaging. One thing that’s not so simple is the character of…
In Defense of the 2011 Adaptation of Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter recently made its long awaited return to JUMP serialization. As such, there's no better time than the present to look back on its pair of…
Day Twelve: Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (MotM 2020)
If you were to ask me what my favorite band was a decade ago, I would reply, “The Foo Fighters” without hesitation. If you were to ask me…
In Defense of Play: A rereading of Caillois’ “Man, Play, and Games”
Groos came to seein play the guarantor of youth: “Animals also do not play because they are young; they are young because they have toplay.”82 He therefore distinguished…
#MechaMarch 2021: Question 2
It’s time for the second question! Yay! I’m at last excited, even if I am giving only a sort answer. Also, this was supposed to be question 3…
Character Question: Anthy Himemiya
I’m posting a little early this week. It’s the last week of NaNoWriMo, my book’s plot is coming together, and I want to get in a couple scenes…
#MechaMarch 2021: Question 4
Thank you guys for enjoying Mecha March 2021. Next week is the in review portion of Mecha March. Next year, I need to come up with a different…
#MechaMarch 2020: Question 2
Once again, thank you to everyone getting involved with Mecha March. I always enjoy seeing your answers. I hope you all continue to get involved with these question…
#MechaMarch 2020 Question 1
Once again, thank you so much for those who responded to my crazy idea. You know, like my other crazy ideas that I seem to have. I’m happy…
#MechaMarch 2020 Question 3
I’m always going to be thankful of everyone who joins into this miniature collab thing for Mecha March, but also thank you to everyone following along with Mecha…
#MechaMarch 2021: Question 3
Thank you for getting involved, everyone. I’m more and more excited by the Mecha March content that people are posting. Also, thank you for answer my questions too.…