Book Review: Octavia’s Brood

Book Review: Octavia’s Brood edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha One of the many uses of science fiction is to talk about current issues in a speculative setting.  One can posit a world in which current trends have become exaggerated to dystopian levels, or where a solution has been found to a current… Continue reading Book Review: Octavia’s Brood

Book Review: Merton of the Movies

Book Review: Merton of the Movies by Harry Leon Wilson Simsbury, Illinois might just be a wide spot in the road, but twice a week, the Bijou Palace shows movies made in far-off Hollywood.  Perhaps the most fanatical attendee of these showings is young Merton Gill, assistant shopkeeper at Gashwiler’s Emporium (general store.)  Merton has studied… Continue reading Book Review: Merton of the Movies

Book Review: Goblin Quest

Book Review: Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines Jig has always lived in the mountain, only hearing third-hand stories about the outside world.  Even stepping outside the goblin warrens is dangerous, why risk going any further?  Still, he dreams of being promoted from his lamplighter duties (a child’s job) to a patrolling warrior.  Jig’s smart,… Continue reading Book Review: Goblin Quest

Manga Review: Futaba-kun Change! Vol. 1

Manga Review: Futaba-kun Change! Vol. 1 by Hiroshi Aro Futaba Shimeru is a junior high school student whose voice has recently changed, and has started noticing girls, especially his pretty classmate Misaki.  One day, a wrestling club teammate gives Futaba a girlie magazine, and the young fellow retreats to the boys’ room to read it.… Continue reading Manga Review: Futaba-kun Change! Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Blue Monday, Vol. 2: Absolute Beginners

Comic Book Review: Blue Monday, Vol. 2: Absolute Beginners by Chynna Clugston Flores Disclaimer:  I received this volume through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested. Bleu L. Finnegan isn’t precisely your normal high school girl growing up in 1990s Northern California.  For one thing,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Blue Monday, Vol. 2: Absolute Beginners

Anime Review: Lupin the Third: The Italian Adventure

Anime Review: Lupin the Third: The Italian Adventure Arsène Lupin III, alleged French-Japanese descendant of the famous 19th Century criminal Arsène Lupin, is a master thief.  If he says he’ll steal something, Lupin the 3rd most certainly will.  A master of disguise, able to open any lock, and possessed of great cunning, he steals treasures… Continue reading Anime Review: Lupin the Third: The Italian Adventure

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly (2016)

Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly (2016) by various creators. It’s the fourth anniversary of this blog (where does the time go!?) and thus my annual review of the online edition of Weekly Shounen Jump, Japan’s best-selling manga anthology.   The 2016 reaper has been busy here as elsewhere, with several long-running series ending:  Bleach, Nisekoi, Toriko… Continue reading Manga Review: Shonen Jump Weekly (2016)

Manga Review: Nichijou: My Ordinary Life (1)

Manga Review: Nichijou: My Ordinary Life (1) by Keiichi Arawa The ordinary lives that all of us lead every day might perhaps be a succession of miracles. This is the story of four ordinary high school girls living their ordinary everyday lives.  Yukko, cheerful but not very bright; Mio, who’s of average intellect and has… Continue reading Manga Review: Nichijou: My Ordinary Life (1)

TV Review: Blackadder Goes Forth

TV Review: Blackadder Goes Forth The year is 1917, the place, somewhere in France.  British troops are dug into trenches, not too far from the German troops in their trenches.  This particular part of the front line is the location of Captain Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson.)  Experience has taught him that the British strategy of… Continue reading TV Review: Blackadder Goes Forth

Manga Review: Servant X Service 1

Manga Review: Servant X Service 1 by Karino Takatsu In a certain city in a certain prefecture of Japan, the Health & Welfare Department has hired three new people.  Yutaka Hasebe, a highly competent slacker; Lucy (etc.) Yamagami, a strait-laced woman with an improbable name,  and Saya Miyoshi, an under-confident woman who has a tendency to… Continue reading Manga Review: Servant X Service 1