Manga Review: Ikigami the Ultimate Limit Volume 10

Manga Review: Ikigami the Ultimate Limit Volume 10 by Motoro Mase Quick recap: Thanks to the National Welfare Act, every child in the country is given their vaccinations when they come of grade school age. One in one thousand of these vaccinations also contains a nanocapsule that migrates to the heart, where it lodges. Some… Continue reading Manga Review: Ikigami the Ultimate Limit Volume 10

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Yuki's profession is so hazardous in itself that she's never thought about the possibility of dying of plague instead.

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) directed by Toshiya Fujita So, it turns out Yuki (Meiko Kaiji) survived the ending of the previous film, much to her own surprise. Problem is, people remember she did all that murder beforehand as Lady Snowblood. We pick up several years later after the end of… Continue reading Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Anime Review: Spy X Family

Anya knows her goal, even if she has difficulties with the specifics.

Anime Review: Spy X Family In an alternate Earth’s 1960s, an uneasy peace exists between the nations of Westalis and Ostania. There are those who have forgotten the horrors of war or even welcome them, and are working to break out of this “cold war” situation. The Westalian spy organization WISE works against those in… Continue reading Anime Review: Spy X Family

Movie Review: The Black Book (1949)

Robespierre and Fouche conspire.

Movie Review: The Black Book (1949) directed by Anthony Mann The French Revolution is eating its own. The corrupt monarchy was overthrown, yes, and many of the cruel aristocrats executed or exiled. But the temptations of power have turned the Citizens’ Committee against each other, and control of the mob requires ever-increasing sacrifices of the “enemies… Continue reading Movie Review: The Black Book (1949)

Anime Review: Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood

Sawa takes a moment to smell the flowers.

Anime Review: Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Sawa Yukimura runs a small used bookstore in Tokyo in 1931 and takes care of her adopted little sister Asahi. The bookstore is often closed, though, as Sawa is also a member of the secret government assassination squad codenamed “Nue.” She’s also the last known survivor… Continue reading Anime Review: Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood

Book Review: A Coffin for Dimitrios

Book Review: A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler Latimer used to be a political economist at an English university, until contact with Nazi economical theory left him so out of sorts that he wrote a detective novel to relax. He turned out to be quite good at writing detective stories, and has become a… Continue reading Book Review: A Coffin for Dimitrios

Book Review: The Bamboo Bloodbath

Book Review: The Bamboo Bloodbath by Piers Anthony and Roberto Fuentes I’ve mentioned before that one of my guilty pleasures is the “men’s adventure” paperback series of the 1970s. Violence, sex, drugs and the particular cultural trends of the Seventies mixed with a macho writing style and pulpish sensibility. In the case of the Jason… Continue reading Book Review: The Bamboo Bloodbath

Book Review: Next Year in Havana

Book Review: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton Disclaimer:  I received this Advance Reading Copy from a Read It Forward giveaway for the purpose of writing this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested.  The final product, due out 2/6/18, may have minor changes. In 1958, Elisa Perez is the daughter of one… Continue reading Book Review: Next Year in Havana

Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries March 1944

Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries March 1944 edited by Mary Gnaedinger Famous Fantastic Mysteries ran from 1939 to 1953 as primarily a reprint magazine.  It was originally published by the Munsey Company to feature the many speculative fiction stories they’d published over the years in their non-specialist magazines like Argosy, to cash in on the now… Continue reading Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries March 1944

Book Review: The Rebellion’s Last Traitor

Book Review: The Rebellion’s Last Traitor by Nik Korpon Once upon a time, the Morrigan brothers formed a group called Tathadann to make Eitan City a refuge from the Resource Wars that were killing the planet.  But then one of them betrayed the other, and the Tathadann became dictators.  Now it was their turn to… Continue reading Book Review: The Rebellion’s Last Traitor