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May 8, 2023 • Subscribe
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The Anime Realism of 'Run, Melos!'
Exploring one of history's most underrated anime features.
The rise of realism
However dominant it became in the 80s, the Kanada style was never the only aesthetic of anime. Besides the heavily stylized motion of the Kanada school and the…
Robot Carnival, The Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors, Harmagedon, Only Yesterday
The purpose of realism in animation
The concept of realism in animation is a tricky one. Indeed, animation is thought to be the perfect medium to transcend reality and give shape to one’s wildest…
The purpose of realism in animation
The concept of realism in animation is a tricky one. Indeed, animation is thought to be the perfect medium to transcend reality and give shape to one’s wildest…
Top 20 Personal Animated Shows from 2010 - 2022
So, the last decade and a bit of animation has been a hella big journey for all who have been following along for it, there's been A LOT…
The Art of Animated Titles
During their mid-century boom.
+15: The Master of Animated Dance
Peeking into the artistry of Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo.
Confessions of a Fujoshi: Realism in fiction.
NB: Fujoshi (腐女子, lit. “rotten girl”) refers to female fans of manga and novels that feature romantic relationships between men. I wasn’t always a fujoshi. Somewhere down the…
Confessions of a Fujoshi: Realism in fiction.
NB: Fujoshi (腐女子, lit. “rotten girl”) refers to female fans of manga and novels that feature romantic relationships between men. I wasn’t always a fujoshi. Somewhere down the…
The Art of the Animated Music Video
Looking at three standout works.
The Appeal of Ecchi Shows
Ecchi shows get a negative initial response from the general public. These are often looked down upon as cheaply made, horrible shows, that are only focused on the…
The Dilemma of Rewatching Shows
Over these past couple of months, I have been getting temptations to rewatch a lot of my favorite anime.
Yasuo Otsuka’s Pioneering Realism
The more I dig into the history of anime the more I’m coming to understand the impact that one man had in turning it into what it is…
The last of the 2023 shows
Though there will be more in a second season, S-rank Musume ends with no additional demon lords slain, no answers about Ange’s past or that little thing that…
The Power of Forgiveness
Turn the Page and Start a New Symphony
The Power of Trust
The Promised Neverland is an anime that discusses the idea of trust through its main characters, Emma, Norman, Ray, and Isabella. Here’s a whole video essay analyzing The…
Animated Movie August: Sword of the Stranger
Welcome back to the second installation of Animated Movie August, 2024 edition. It’s pretty self explanatory, so I’ll keep it moving. This particular film came onto my radar…
Liz and the Blue Bird : Beyond Realism
This essay is dedicated to all the artists at Kyoto Animation who died in the 2019 fire attack and whose painstakingly beautiful work is here celebrated. What seems…
Episode 19: Japanese Magical Realism
“Even though She Looks Old, She Is Young” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi Check out Episode 19 of the Read Literature podcast. Magical realism is a literary genre famous for…
The Power of Three: Sankarea
The premise of “The Power of Three” series of posts is that we’re going to be looking at some kind of three-way relationship to see how it works.…
The Objective Power Of Animation
Animation is a powerful medium, but one that is often overlooked largely by hollywood and the broader world. Well, I think theres a good chance that may not…
The Power of Two: Nana
Man, I like Nana. It’s grown-up, right? Well, at least they try. The gimmick is that both main characters are named Nana, Nana Oosaki and Nana Kumatsu. They…
The Power of Three: Penguindrum
Penguindrum is one of those thing, like Wonder Egg Priority, that people have been recommending to me, like, forever. Really. Seriously. For ever. A Certain Retailer had two…
The Power of Three: Nana
Like a lot of media, not just anime, love of various sorts plays a large role in Nana. Well, it could hardly not, after all. You can call…
Struggles of Seasonal Shows
At this point I don’t know how the hell I was able to keep up. Between work, finding time for yourself, and other things sure make me question…
The Art of the Animated Music Video, Vol. 2
Three inventive, eye-grabbing videos from Japan.
Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon – Episode 7 – Komari Shows Her True Power
Episode impressions of Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon Episode 7 as after the failed attempt to kick Komari out of the Crimson Lords, Flote wants to settle it with…
The Otakusphere: Good romances, bad detectives and realism
Good morning or afternoon or evening or whatever time it may be for everyone out there in Internet-land. It’s Sunday here in my corner of the hinterlands, so…
The Art of Pitching Shows to Friends
I, for one, find that I am incredibly hard to pitch a show to. I like what I like and if you’re not pitching something to me correctly,…
Pick of the Week: We’ve Run Out of Beans!
SEAN: I feel a bit guilty for not picking One Piece 100, but I’ve gotten really far behind with it. I’ll go to the light novel well again…
The Power of Three: Flowers of Evil
While I was waiting for the Flowers of Evil manga to go on sale I picked up the anime to tide me over, and BOY, was I glad…
Horrors of Animated Food Hygiene #2
Today: Polar Bear Cafe Episode 20 In the second story from this episode, “Summer Festival“, Polar Bear and Grizzly jointly run a stall at the local Summer Festival…
Books: Batman – The Animated Series
By Raz Greenberg. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Joe Sutliff Sanders new book, Batman: The Animated Series, which analyzes the superhero show as part of Wayne State…
Boys Run The Riot
Initial Thoughts I enjoyed how our main character faces challenges, that we see in depth, and how he overcomes them. I feel when covering subjects like these it…
Boys on the Run
This manga is not one that is supposed to make you feel happy or satisfied, at least not long term. It does have moments that may seem to…
Boys Run the Riot
"Wing, eat a Snickers. You're not yourself when you're hungry." 3:42 - Boys Run the Riot 29:54 - My Hero Academia 327 49:07 - Undead Unluck 81 54:46 - Kaiju No. 8…
Boys Run the Riot
A manga about a teenager transman Ryo who struggles with finding acceptance from the world around him. He teams up with the new transfer student Jin to start…
Boys Run the Riot
Ryo has a secret and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep it under wraps. Ryo is a boy, and yet, here he is forced to wear the…
Surrealism and Magical Realism in Anime
I am very inconsistent with my opening paragraphs. I sort of switch between a personal introduction to ease readers into the post and just jumping right in without…
Chainsaw Man: One of the Shows of all Time
Right, well it’s time to talk about this show. One I’ve no doubt people are sick of hearing already but hey it came out and it deserves a…
'Chihayafuru' and the Power of Connection
Connection is the driving force behind everything in the narrative of Chihayafuru. With each connection stemming Chihaya's love of karuta and the poems in the game. 0:00 Intro 2:33 Disclaimers 3:45…
The Power Of Trying Again Later
Reminder: This was my first game* in 14 years... And I was playing on hard. Edited/Written by: @TeeHallumsYT SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/totallynotmark FOLLOW…
The Power of Two: Princess Jellyfish
I never know how much to summarize about a series when I start these essays. I mean, stuff like Cowboy Bebop I know everyone’s seen; on the other…
The Power of Three: Millennium Actress
Satoshi Kon was the original flim-flam man. Well, probably not. The original flim-flam man probably dates back to about five minutes after the invention of portable currency. If…
Episode 202, "The Power Of Love"
On this episode of The One Piece Podcast we have the crew on to discuss some classic manga, some current anime, some late-breaking video game trailers, and a…
The Power of Three: Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is one of those things that’s so unique in construction that it’s hard to see the pieces it’s built out of. That’s one of the reasons…
The Power of Two: Golden Kamuy
I’m reading the manga for Golden Kamuy when I get around to picking up a new issue every so often, up through volume four by now, and I’m…
The Power of Tears in Anime
How does anime use tears and the visuals of crying characters and why do I like it so much!