Birthrates in the developed world, especially in South Korea and Japan, have fallen below the replacement rate. Japan’s total fertility rate dropped below replacement back in 1974 with population decline beginning in 2010 (Oizimi, 2022). Japan’s population also declines because of people migrating out of the country. This has led to concern about demographic collapse,…
Gushing Over Magical Girls and The Stretch of Art
I cannot recommend Gushing Over Magical Girls, but the story has its merits and has more going for it than it appears on the surface. The story plays with the magical girl genre in uncomfortable ways. Enter Utena Hiiragi, a shy middle-schooler who admires magical girls. In the story’s world, magical girls appear on television…
Too Many Losing Heroines! Makeine
Too Many Losing Heroines!, also known as Makeine takes a different perspective on the usual romantic-comedy story. In a normal shonen romantic-comedy (Notice that young men, the main audience of shonen, also enjoy romance), the male protagonist is the one involved in the romance triangles, squares, and dodecahedrons in the case of harem stories. When…
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Misses its Potential
Trigger is an animation studio known for its frenetic action scenes with the likes of Kill la Kill and Darling in the Franxx. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners doesn’t disappoint…when it has action scenes anyway. The anime is based on the video game of the same name, which I haven’t played. The story follows a street kid named…
Osamu Tezuka’s Ayako
Osamu Tezuka is considered the godfather of manga. He popularized the format with his storytelling, using film techniques as a part of his approach. His art style mixes the style of early Disney with Japan’s native ukiyo-e style. This lends the impression that Tezuka’s work is “childish.” His three-volume story Ayako contradicts this perspective. As…
The Art of Love and War | Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a romantic comedy that I’ve already covered in a few other articles. However, the story deserves a deeper look. Beneath its comedy is a male-aimed romantic message that shows how romantic notions are for men too. Akasaka Aka approaches the romance with using the “slow boil” method as we will…