Manga Review: Ooku 10 & 11 by Fumi Yoshinaga Quick recap: In an alternate Shogunate Japan, a plague wipes out 80% of the men, requiring women to take over most of the jobs previously held by males. This includes being shogun (military leader, the day to day ruler of Japan, as opposed to the Emperor, who… Continue reading Manga Review: Ooku 10 & 11
Tag: Japan
Manga Review: Dream Fossil
Manga Review: Dream Fossil by Satoshi Kon Satoshi Kon (1963-2010) was an acclaimed anime director, making a handful of movies (including Paprika) and one television series, Paranoia Agent. His themes of confusion of dreams and reality, and madness lying just below the surface of society, made his works fascinating. He also spent some time as a… Continue reading Manga Review: Dream Fossil
Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 18
Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 18 by Rumiko Takahashi Recap: Rinne Rokudo is a shinigami (“death spirit”) a psychopomp who helps ghosts and spirits move on to the afterlife. Because he’s part human, his powers are relatively weak, and he must rely on often expensive gadgets to do his job. That, and debts his deadbeat dad Sabato… Continue reading Manga Review: Rin-Ne Volume 18
Book Review: China Dolls
Book Review: China Dolls by Lisa See It is 1938, the tail end of the Great Depression, and San Francisco is trying to shake off its blues with a World’s Fair on Treasure Island. They’re going to need a lot of employees for that, and the prospect of a job draws Grace Lee all the… Continue reading Book Review: China Dolls
Manga Review: So Cute It Hurts!! Volume 3
Manga Review: So Cute It Hurts!! Volume 3 by Go Ikeyamada Quick recap: Megumu and Mitsuru Kobayashi are fraternal twins who have been dressing as each other at their schools as part of a wacky scheme to bring up Mitsuru’s history grades. Each of them has fallen in love while in disguise as the opposite… Continue reading Manga Review: So Cute It Hurts!! Volume 3
Anime Review: Young Black Jack
Anime Review: Young Black Jack Black Jack was a manga series by Osamu Tezuka, about a renegade doctor who performs miraculous feats of medicine, but demands outrageous fees. (Unless he decides to do it for free or a token.) As Dr. Tezuka was an actual M.D. before he chucked it to become a full-time artist,… Continue reading Anime Review: Young Black Jack
Movie Review: Tokyo Gore School
Movie Review: Tokyo Gore School Fujiwara leads a double life. He’s the leader of a gang of high school bullies, and also the teacher-trusted student president. He’s reasonably comfortable with this, having a binary view of life. There are winners and losers, and he’s determined to be a winner. Fujiwara is baffled, however, when… Continue reading Movie Review: Tokyo Gore School
Anime Review: One-Punch Man
Anime Review: One-Punch Man Saitama used to be an unemployed salaryman (white-collar worker) whose life was going nowhere. When a (relatively weak) monster attacked, Saitama remembered his boyhood dream of becoming a hero who could defeat any opponent with a single punch. He trained really hard, and became that hero…but if you can defeat any… Continue reading Anime Review: One-Punch Man
Anime Review: The Kindaichi Case Files Return
Anime Review: The Kindaichi Case Files Return Hajime Kindaichi is a high school junior who has a reputation for laziness and poor grades. His childhood friend Miyuki Nanase alternates between being sweet on him and irritated by his antics. What makes Kindaichi different from most teenage underachievers is that he’s the grandson of famous detective… Continue reading Anime Review: The Kindaichi Case Files Return
Manga Review: Let’s Dance a Waltz
Manga Review: Let’s Dance a Waltz by Natsumi Ando Tango Minami’s mother runs a ballroom dance school, where he helps out as a dance instructor (he’s tall for a junior high student.) But due to a disastrous mistake in his childhood, Tango has decided never to take another full-time partner, and thus not qualify for… Continue reading Manga Review: Let’s Dance a Waltz