Manga Review: Path of the Assassin, Volumes 11 & 14 by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima It is the last years of the Warring States period of Japanese history. In these volumes, we follow the adventures of Hattori Hanzo, greatest of the Iga ninja (in this interpretation) and vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would become… Continue reading Manga Review: Path of the Assassin, Volumes 11 & 14
Tag: samurai
Manga Review: Shonen Jump (2019)
Manga Review: Shonen Jump (2019) by various It’s my blog anniversary again, so time to look at the current state of Shonen Jump! The official Shonen Jump website has undergone drastic changes this year. No longer does it simulate a magazine with a cover and stories that are printed in a certain order. Instead, each… Continue reading Manga Review: Shonen Jump (2019)
Comic Book Review: Elektra: The Hand
Comic Book Review: Elektra: The Hand written by C.B. Cebulski, pencils by Christian Gossett, inks by Jonathan Glapion When Elektra Natchios joined the ninja organization known as the Hand, it was with the purpose of training in the martial arts and learning killing techniques so that she would never be helpless again. She accepted, at… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Elektra: The Hand
Anime Review: Dororo (2019)
Anime Review: Dororo (2019) Lord Daigo has a problem. The lands under his control suffer from floods when it rains and droughts when it doesn’t, the crops wither, the people are afflicted with disease, and bandits and enemy soldiers roam freely. As a result, Daigo’s province is poverty-stricken and low-status. In desperation, Daigo turns to… Continue reading Anime Review: Dororo (2019)
Film Review: Three Outlaw Samurai
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964) directed by Hideo Gosha. Times are tough in this rural district of Japan. There’s been a succession of bad harvests, but no reduction in taxes, so the peasants are starving and broke. In desperation, several farmers have kidnapped the daughter of the local magistrate in an effort to extort him into presenting… Continue reading Film Review: Three Outlaw Samurai
Book Review: Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
Book Review: Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt Back in the early 1980s, manga and anime fandom was tiny, with almost no material being available in English save dubs heavily edited for American children’s television and expunged as much as possible of their Japanese roots. It required a certain amount… Continue reading Book Review: Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4 edited by Julius Schwartz The Flash is Barry Allen, a police detective who was working during a thunderstorm one night when a bolt of lightning struck a shelf of chemicals, spilling the mixture on him. Barry quickly realized that he’d been gifted with super-speed, making… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4
Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 2
Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 2 by Takehiko Inoue Quick recap: In 17th Century Japan, failed soldier Shinmen Takezo has reinvented himself as wandering swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Dedicating his life to perfecting his own style of swordsmanship, he travels to Kyoto and starts a feud with the Yoshioka school of kendo. Unknown to him, his childhood… Continue reading Manga Review: Vagabond Volume 2
Manga Review: Blade of the Immortal Omnibus 1
Manga Review: Blade of the Immortal Omnibus 1 by Hiroaki Samura Manji used to be the samurai retainer of Lord Horii, and served faithfully until the day he discovered that the people he’d just killed on orders from Horii were in fact not criminals, but innocent peasants who were going to the government with evidence… Continue reading Manga Review: Blade of the Immortal Omnibus 1
Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 59
Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 59 by Gosho Aoyama Quick recap: When teen genius detective Shin’ichi Kudou (Jimmy Kudo in the American edition) is targeted by a mysterious criminal organization, the experimental poison used shrinks him to child size rather than killing him. Assuming the identity of Conan Edogawa, the pint-sized sleuth moves in with… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 59