Where do the lies end and the truth begins? This theme unifies the first season of Oshi no Ko. The story stares into the dark side of entertainment industry, deep into the abyss of pop idols, acting, and online personalities. Oshi no Ko‘s beautiful and bright artwork contrasts against the story’s dark story. This article…
Category: Understanding Anime
Call of the Night: FLCL with Vampires. The Rituals Boys Need to Become Men
Call of the Night, like most anime, explores the emotional tangle of growing up, only with vampires. Ko is a high school drop out who struggles with school and fitting into society. He drops out of both, even to the point of avoiding the daylight hours. During his nocturnal roaming, he stumbles across the vampire…
Why are Anime Obsessed with Big Boobs?
Anime is obsessed with breasts. Top-heavy female characters appear across anime stories, including stories aimed at girls. Female characters obsess over their bust size, fondling larger friends or feeling self-conscious about their own small bust. It’s easy to dismiss this as simply “boobs sell” and anime is made for horny teen guys. These are partial…
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Facing Death and Memory
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End goes deep. You won’t find philosophical musings like in Ghost in the Shell, nor does Frieren goes into the darkness that some stories dive deep into. No, the story retains hope and humor, while allowing death to permeate the story. Frieren, after the deaths of the human heroes who she had…
Why Do Anime Characters Always Get Colds [and Collapse from Them]?
You know the scene. It starts with a sneeze or a chill, usually after being caught in the rain. Next, the character collapses into unconsciousness. Sometimes this happens in the classroom; other times it happens during some emotional event, such as a kokuhaku. The character’s friends and love interest rush to their side. They call…
Kokuhaku, How to Confess Your Love the Japanese Way
Kokuhaku, or love confession, isn’t easy to research. People take contemporary cultural practices for granted; such practices aren’t studied until they fall out of practice. If you do a web search for kokuhaku, you will find many articles, but I aim for academic or newspaper sources. These are scarce. In any case, like so many…