Anime Review: 16bit Sensation: Another Layer

Anime Review: 16bit Sensation: Another Layer In 2023, Konoha Akisato is an aspiring illustrator who wants to break into the world of bishoujo (“pretty girl”) games. She’s a huge nerd on the subject, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the field. Sadly, the only job she could get related to computer games is “color fill” at… Continue reading Anime Review: 16bit Sensation: Another Layer

Comic Book Review: Jughead with Archie Digest Magazine #134

Comic Book Review: Jughead with Archie Digest Magazine #134 by various creators The Archie characters and setting first appeared in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941) as part of the M.L.J. Magazines comic book publishing line. Inspired by the wholesome Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney, Archie Andrews was a “typical American teenager” with a stable… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Jughead with Archie Digest Magazine #134

Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 1

Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 1 by Naoko Takeuchi Usagi Tsukino is a more or less typical fourteen-year-old girl. She likes food, video games, and sleeping, and dislikes homework and tests. She’s clumsy and a bit of a crybaby, but has a good heart and a kind streak. Also, she has… Continue reading Manga Review: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 1

Movie Review: Desk Set

Richard and Bunny enjoy a late dinner.

Movie Review: Desk Set (1957) directed by Walter Lang (aka “His Other Woman”) Back in 1957, if you needed the answer to a question, you couldn’t just go on the internet. You had to look in a book, or ask another human being to look for you. That’s the job of the four women in the… Continue reading Movie Review: Desk Set

Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series

Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr (also printed as “World’s Best Science Fiction 1967”) The introduction to this volume of science fiction stories from 1966 mentions that there was a tendency to longer stories in the field, perhaps because many of the ideas required more… Continue reading Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series

Comic Book Review: Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Vol. 2

Comic Book Review: Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Vol. 2 by various creators. Carl Lucas, a juvenile delinquent, straightened himself out and was trying to become a respectable citizen when he was framed for heroin possession. An unruly prisoner, he eventually ended up at Seagate Prison, where he volunteered for medical experiments conducted by Dr.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Vol. 2

Book Review: Murder in Blue

Book Review: Murder in Blue by Paul Petersen Eric Saveman, the man codenamed The Smuggler, has come a long way from his career bringing marijuana into California. Nowadays he works for ZED, a secret branch of the CIA that also works domestically. His current assignment is to infiltrate a Soviet computer facility and steal a… Continue reading Book Review: Murder in Blue

Anime Review: SSSS Gridman

And this isn't even his final form!

Anime Review: SSSS Gridman Yuta has amnesia, that’s true, yet somehow Tokyo doesn’t seem quite right to him. Was it always so foggy in the city? And why is he the only one who can see kaiju (giant monsters) just casually hanging out in the distance? And did old model computers have superheroes talking directly… Continue reading Anime Review: SSSS Gridman

Book Review: If This Goes On

Gotta love this cover "old man yells at rocket."

Book Review: If This Goes On edited by Charles Nuetzel The “if this goes on” story is a staple of short science fiction. Pick a current trend like “women not wearing hats anymore” or “cat videos” and extend it out to an exaggerated conclusion. For example, the Robert Heinlein story of that name, which posits… Continue reading Book Review: If This Goes On

Movie Review: Summer Wars

The clan gathers around the family computer.

Movie Review: Summer Wars (2009) directed by Mamoru Hosoda High schooler Kenji Koiso is a math whiz who almost qualified for Team Japan in the Math Olympics. But almost won’t get you a good summer job, so he’s a low level maintenance admin for the OZ online service. OZ is the most popular online virtual world,… Continue reading Movie Review: Summer Wars