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Jun 3, 2017 In the later half of the 21st century, humans have colonized the moon and Mars, and are on the cusp of colonizing Jupiter. The mission is met with controversy, from shady government officials, terrorist groups, to our main characters who just want to do their job. Planetes is a beautiful slice-of-life that uses outer space as a backdrop in order to examine humanity. The series covers a wide range of life questions, from love, to what it means to “grow up.” It asks if humans have a right to explore outer space, or if the colonization of other planets is trespassing. Planetes is episodic, often jumping across ... 
Mar 16, 2017
Seraphim is for a niche audience. If you are not a huge fan of Mamoru Oshii or Satoshi Kon, this manga is not for you. This is a short-lived collaboration between the two anime director from 1994-95, and because of Satoshi Kon's passing in 2010, it will remain unfinished indefinitely.
The work itself is politically dense. The characters travel across a quarantined China, searching for a cure to a deadly disease. It's unbearably information-heavy at the front of the book, but thankfully slows down towards to a simpler action-packed race against time towards the end. Unfortunately, it leaves the reader on an indefinite cliffhanger as ... 
Feb 21, 2017
ORANGE starts off incredibly shallow. The characters are not much more than a single personality trait. I could only remember Naho, Suwa, and Kakeru’s names for the first half. The writing is a equally terrible. While dialogue is supposed to move a narrative along, Orange's dialogue does this too literally. Everything is spelled out for the reader, and everything that happens to the cast seems like a contrived convenience. Couple this with generic high school manga situations, and I was left bored and disappointed with Orange. I would have dropped it earlier on if I hadn’t purchased the complete series at once. I’m glad I
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Jan 14, 2017
A promising young doctor is framed by his own patient for a string of murders. He seeks revenge to clear his name, but quickly finds himself in a mystery where every answer seems to open up more questions. What happened in Kinderheim 511? What is the connection between a series of children’s books? And darkest of all: who is the Monster?
Monster is often hailed as one of the best manga series of all time. While I don’t think it's perfect like many other readers do, it is definitely worth a read. Its many thrills and continuously perplexing mystery makes Monster a page turner, yet the ... 
Nov 27, 2016
Blue Spring is a collection of short stories centered around the theme of questioning one's future. The characters are all high school delinquents, and the answer to their question lies in crime, dissatisfaction, or death.
As one might expect from Taiyo Matsumoto, the presentation is unconventional both in visuals and style. Matsumoto's drawing style is aesthetically pleasing and captures the gritty reality he is examining. The stories are understandable enough, but I feel a lot of it is lost on me due to a lack of cultural knowledge. I think after some research and time, a reread would allow me to give a better analysis. 
Jun 1, 2016
Gunslinger Girl
(Anime)
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The synopsis of Gunslinger Girl misrepresents the anime as an action show. Based on other reviews and discussion on this website, many viewers are surprised to find that they have chosen a drama to watch. This was initially disappointing and although I tried not to let it influence my opinion, Gunslinger Girl overall turns out to be an average show.
The anime follows the Italian government’s “Social Welfare Agency,” an organization that takes ill or orphaned children and modifies them into “cyborgs” to hunt down terrorists and enemies of the state. Each girl is given to an adult male “handler,” which is essentially a trainer. There ... 
May 12, 2016
Byousoku 5 Centimeter
(Anime)
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When you were a kid, did you or your best friend move away? Although you promised you'd be friends forever, distance and time kept getting in the way, right? That is what 5 Centimeters Per Second is about- the youthful longing for the universe to stay inert so you may be with the ones you love forever. The presentation is beautiful, with special attention paid to lighting and the smallest of details of the frame.
This anime manages to squeeze so much into a short sixty-minute runtime, and although it is a complete story, part of me wishes it was longer. On the other hand, ... 
May 10, 2016
Mononoke feels like a cross between The Twilight Zone and Mushishi. This is an episodic show- the series is split into five short stories. You could watch each arc out of order and be completely fine. The show is not about developing the Vendor as a character, rather, just telling some fun horror stories. The horror lies in disgust, freaky surrealism and terrifying sound design.
The art style is reminiscent of Edo-period wood prints. The anime tends to use color to tell the story as well. The animation tends to be minimal until the climax of the arc in which a short fight will occur between ... 
Sep 27, 2015
Suki tte Ii na yo.
(Anime)
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This show relies on miscommunications and misunderstandings to create cheap drama. Our main characters are dunces. Even after dating for months, they are still as insecure and can't understand what each other means as if they were still on date one.
The supporting characters were missed potential. There were at least two recurring characters that I can't remember ever being introduced! All that happens with the side characters is you may find yourself judgmental towards them as they are introduced, but as time goes on, you learn about them and realize they aren't so bad after all. Other than that, they don't get any well-deserved ... |
