Anime Review: Sasaki and Peeps

Sasaki is a skilled negotiator.

Anime Review: Sasaki and Peeps We first meet Sasaki at his day job, a salaryman at a small trading company in Tokyo. He’s good at his job, and well liked by his coworkers. But it’s clear that his career stalled out years ago, and his salary can be generously described as modest. By frugal living,… Continue reading Anime Review: Sasaki and Peeps

Anime Review: Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure

From left: Cure Wing, Cure Sky, Cure Prism and Cure Butterfly

Anime Review: Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure (Japanese title: “Hirogaru Sky! Precure”) Pretty Cure is a franchise series of anime shows aimed at preteen girls, which began in 2004 with Futari wa Pretty Cure (“We Two are Pretty Cure”). The recurring basic plot is that girls in their early teens are given magical items (usually by… Continue reading Anime Review: Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure

Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump 2023

Best picture for kitty-lovers, worst for ailurophobes.

Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump 2023 by various creators It’s the eleventh anniversary of this blog! As every year, let’s take a look at the long-running colossus that is Weekly Shounen Jump! One Piece has moved on from the Wano storyline to one involving frequently referenced mad scientist(s) Dr. Vegapunk, who is not as cool… Continue reading Manga Review: Weekly Shonen Jump 2023

Comic Book Review: Astro City Metrobook 4

Comic Book Review: Astro City Metrobook 4 written by Kurt Busiek, art by Brent Anderson, covers by Alex Ross Astro City is filled with superheroes and supervillains. But it’s also filled with ordinary people trying to live their ordinary lives in an extraordinary world. Both these groups have stories to tell. This independent “universe” was… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Astro City Metrobook 4

Comic Book Review: DC Special No. 23: Green Arrow

Comic Book Review: DC Special No. 23: Green Arrow edited by Len Wein Green Arrow was created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp for More Fun Comics #73 in 1941. Oliver “Ollie” Queen was originally an old-money anthropologist with a special interest in Native American cultures, who’d learned archery from the tribes he was studying.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: DC Special No. 23: Green Arrow

Comic Book Review: The Terrifics Vol. 1: Meet the Terrifics

Comic Book Review: The Terrifics Vol. 1: Meet the Terrifics written by Jeff Lemire, art by various. Michael Holt, codename Mr. Terrific, has been off-planet for some time dealing with extra-dimensional threats. During that time, his company, Terrifitech, was taken over in an underhanded manner by ethically dubious multimillionaire Simon Stagg. Mr. Terrific had written… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Terrifics Vol. 1: Meet the Terrifics

Anime Review: Uncle from Another World

Uncle means well, but his face can be offputting.

Anime Review: Uncle from Another World (Japanese title: “Isekai Ojisan”) The year is 2017. Yosuke Shibazaki has just woken from a seventeen year coma he entered when hit by a truck when he himself was seventeen. The shock of all those missing years–his toddler nephew Takafumi Takaoka is now in his early twenties–is compounded by… Continue reading Anime Review: Uncle from Another World

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1 by Various Creators Much like DC, Marvel Comics also had dedicated superhero team-up series. Marvel Two-in-One featured perennial favorite character Benjamin Grimm, the Thing of the Fantastic Four–and I’ve never done a review of anything with him before, so first, a bit of character history! Fantastic Four… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Yokaiden 1

Comic Book Review: Yokaiden 1 by Nina Matsumoto Shamoji Village is way out in the boonies of Japan. It’s said that there is a portal to the yokai realm in the nearby forest, and certainly the area has more than the usual number of those mysterious creatures. Most of the villagers are afraid of the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Yokaiden 1

Movie Review: Doctor Strange (2007)

Stephen Strange's new look.

Movie Review: Doctor Strange (2007) directed by Patrick Archibald The world you can see is not all there is. Monsters roam the streets of New York, smashing and killing their way to a point called the Sanctum. Opposing them are the disciples of the Ancient One, wizards and sorcerers who conceal their activities from the world… Continue reading Movie Review: Doctor Strange (2007)