My Dress-Up Darling surprised me with its heart and layers. I watched it on a whim, expecting the usual tired ecchi nonsense, but I quickly connected with the characters and how Darling develops those characters. Enter Wakana Gojo, the quiet and socially awkward high-school guy with a fascination with…hina doll craftsmanship! During his first semester,…
Category: Anime
Examining Animation: Marin’s Smile
In this article, I’ll attempt to show you an exercise I used to do when I was working on my animation undergraduate degree. The exercise has you take an animation sequence and tear it down, drawing its keyframes (main points of motion) and some of its important in-between frames. Since Marin from My Dress-Up Darling…
My Top Couples in Anime
Long time anime fans have their favorite couples. I enjoy couples with dynamic dialogue. It doesn’t matter if they get together by the end of the series or not as long as the dynamics are interesting. In many cases, the relationships should happen because of the great character interactions. Ichigo and Rukia from Bleach offers…
Komi Can’t Communicate
Komi Can’t Communicate focuses on the perception and the challenges of having social anxiety. Komi is the most beautiful and popular girl in high school, but she suffers from social anxiety to the point where she can’t speak to anyone. The attention her fellow students lavish on her only makes the anxiety worse. She wants…
The Ending of Cowboy Bebop
[This post contains spoilers. I suggest you go watch Cowboy Bebop] When it comes to a classic story like Cowboy Bebop, what can I write that hasn’t been written? Not much of anything, really. Unlike the ending of its spiritual sequel, Samurai Champloo (which I like more than Cowboy Bebop, I might add), Cowboy Bebop…
What Makes Anime, Anime?
It used to be anime was animation from Japan. That was why in the old, pre-Internet days it was often called Japanimation. It was known for being stiff, but super detailed and naturalistic compared to the more cartoony and exaggerated American animation. Animation was, after all, for children. Then Akira and Ghost in the Shell…