Anime Review: Tonari no Seki-kun (The Master of Killing Time) Rumi Yokoi is a high school student who wants to study hard and get good grades. But she’s constantly distracted by the boy sitting next to her, Toshinari Seki, and not for the reasons you might at first expect. You see, Seki is easily bored… Continue reading Anime Review: Tonari no Seki-kun
Tag: Japan
Anime Review: Elfen Lied
Anime Review: Elfen Lied There is a secret laboratory off the coast of Kamakura, Japan. There a naked woman wearing an eyeless helmet, codenamed “Lucy”, is undergoing experimentation. When the helmet is damaged, allowing Lucy to see, she sets about freeing herself, slaughtering many of the lab’s personnel in the process. Yes, even the… Continue reading Anime Review: Elfen Lied
Book Review: The 36 Ancient Chinese Strategies for Modern Business
Book Review: The 36 Ancient Chinese Strategies for Modern Business by Lan Bercu Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Beginning some time in the late 1970s, when it became obvious that Japan had become an economic powerhouse, American businesses began taking an interest in… Continue reading Book Review: The 36 Ancient Chinese Strategies for Modern Business
Book Review: The Idea-Driven Organization
Book Review: The Idea-Driven Organization by Alan G. Robinson & Dean M. Schroeder Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads giveaway program on the premise that I would review it. This is a follow-up to the authors’ 2004 book Ideas Are Free, in which they made a case that innovation can be… Continue reading Book Review: The Idea-Driven Organization
Open Thread: She’s Back!
Back in the early 1990s, Naoko Takeuchi created a character named “Sailor V.” While mahou shoujo (magical girls) had been around for decades in manga and anime, ever since Bewitched was imported from America, Sailor V was a unique blend of stereotypical girly interests and action heroine. This attracted the notice of Toei Animation, who… Continue reading Open Thread: She’s Back!
Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura
Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura Ataru Moroboshi is not precisely your average teenaged boy. For one thing, he’s an incurable skirt-chaser, constantly hitting on any pretty lady who happens by. Also, he’s incredibly unlucky. So unlucky, that when alien invaders declare that a random person from Earth must compete against their champion in a game of… Continue reading Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura
Anime Review: Tsuritama
Anime Review: Tsuritama Yuki Sanada is a high school student who has no friends and limited social skills. Whenever he’s in an uncomfortable social situation, Yuki freezes up with anxiety, depicted as him drowning. From the outside, his anxiety face makes him look wrathful and unapproachable. It doesn’t help that his grandmother’s job requires them… Continue reading Anime Review: Tsuritama
Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans
This last weekend at Minicon 49, I moderated a panel on “Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans.” As is common at this sort of thing, a lot of series and films were mentioned very briefly, and not everyone had the opportunity to write them all down. Therefore, I promised to put up a list. I… Continue reading Anime for Speculative Fiction Fans
Anime Review: Samurai Flamenco
Anime Review: Samurai Flamenco Masayoshi Hazama is an up and coming male model with a superhero fixation. Since superheroes don’t exist in real life, Masayoshi decides to become the first, as non-powered masked hero Samurai Flamenco. He goes out to fight minor crime like jaywalking and littering, and it doesn’t go well. His first adventure… Continue reading Anime Review: Samurai Flamenco
Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Two
Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Two by Makoto Yukimura To recap for those of you who haven’t read the review of Book One, Vinland Saga is set in the early 12th Century, the time of the Vikings. Our protagonist is Thorfinn, son of Thors, who serves in the war band of Askeladd. Askeladd murdered Thors, and… Continue reading Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Two