Every once in awhile I like to watch a fluffy, silly anime. Mayo Chiki! is certainly one of those…on the surface. Underneath the light-harem antics and relationship tangle waited a surprising theme. First, my usual summary. Kinjiro – nicknamed Jiro – is a nice high-school guy with a problem. He is terrified of girls, and…
Category: Anime
Doing Justice to Transgender Characters on TV
It’s always a good sign when something ‘weird’ stops being funny, and is taken seriously. As it seems, that is happening – in some cases – with transgender characters in Japanese TV. A Queer Family in Last Friends First off, I have a correction to make. In my post on lesbians in Japan I was…
One Week Friends: Lessons on Friendship
One Week Friends examines the value of friendship and the work it takes to build a friendship into something deeper. This slice of life story sometimes drops into sap when some aspects are overplayed, but it provides good lessons on friendship. Kaori Fujimiya, the ice queen, ignores everyone and eats alone. Yuki Hase thinks her cute. Driven by his…
The Comic Artist and His Assistants. Thoughts on Male Lust.
Normally I avoid anime like this, but I thought to give it a watch to figure out what makes this sort of anime appealing to some fans. I still don’t understand the appeal. Maybe it is because I am an old fogey as the anime viewership goes. Kids these days! The Comic Artist and His…
Bleach: Unforgiven
Despite Bleach’s many story telling problems, I enjoy its world. When I opened a review package from Viz Media, I was surprised to see Bleach: Unforgiven nestled among the books and manga. Bleach: Unforgiven is a double movie pack that includes Fade to Black and Hell Verse. As Bleach movies go, both movies are side…
Musings IV: Japanese Idioms, and why it is a good idea to know some.
Perhaps you’ve been so lucky never to have prayed into a horse’s ear (uma no mimi ni nenbutsu), but I bet someone has once looked at you with white eyes (shiroi me de miru) until you felt like your stomach was boiling (hara ga nie-kurikaeru yō). Yes, those are Japanese Idioms. I’ve had a class…