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"Step right up and have a look..." are the words of the alluring storyteller fitted with a haunting Noh-like mask: "It's time for Yamishibai"

Collecting short ghost stories based on Japanese urban legends, Yamishibai is criminally short, yet beautifully animated. The animation gives a very bunraku feel, almost as though the characters are all puppets behind a screen. It was no surprise, then, to find out the animation is specifically designed to mimic kamishibai; visual storytelling from the post-war period in Japan. Fans of series like Another and Jigoku Shoujo or any supernatural anime designed to spook and terrify will most likely enjoy this series. Although ... they vary in quality, they never quite leave you and are always memorable in one way or another. Prepare for one heck of a ride.

(No spoilers included)

Peppered with chaos, curses, death and occasional bouts of comedy (this is Japan, after all), Another is a classic, eerily haunting tale that I'm glad I finally ended up watching.

Following the seemingly cursed Class 3, the series delves into the elusive mystery that is a student's sudden and tragic death in the year of 1972. In the aftermath, a strange presence begins to lurk behind the students and within the classroom. Years later, a new student joins the class: enter Koichi Sakakibara, a boy who has no idea just what he's gotten into, and who has just unknowingly became part of ... the mystery. Cue creepy dolls, haunting dialogue, and all-round hysteria.

At first, Another seemed like just another waste of time. It's so hard to get anime horror right that so few ever break through the mold in being actually chilling and somewhat frightening. While by no means groundbreaking and frequently nonsensical (seriously, who calls someone INSIDE A BURNING BUILDING?!), Another is actually effective in being the balance between eerie, untrustworthy and intriguing. The animation is beautifully crisp, while the backgrounds are stunning to watch. The story encapsulated me to the point of wondering just where the hell this was all going, despite pulling me along some of the time. Although defined as horror, it's also a melancholic myriad of tragedy that is a journey of coping with loss.

That doesn't mean the series is devoid of humor. It's actually hilarious in certain places, albeit sometimes unintentionally. At one point towards the end of the series, for example, as a bloody onslaught occurs and a boy charges for his life from a hysterical blood-thirsty maniac, their teacher Chibiki glances at the aftermath and says something like: "This is not normal."

Yeah, this guy has this series down.


(I'm also extremely excited to read the novel, which I had to purchase immediately after finishing episode twelve.)

I'm usually a big fan of Satoshi Kon. Some of my favourite movies are his own creations, Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers being prime examples, and I adore his artwork. Kaikisen--or its English 'Tropic of the Sea'--is itself beautiful on paper, yet falls short while trying to convey something significant beyond the pages.

On the surface, Kon divulges a potentially profound story of a seaside town at risk of being commercialized while trying to maintain the tradition of keeping safe a mystical mermaid's egg gifted to them once every sixty years. In exchange for such care, the mer-people bless the village with warm weather and safety all ... year round. Still relevant to Japan to this day, the conflict of modernization and tradition is a significant debate always interesting to explore and see integrated into a manga narrative. Sadly, the story falls flat and fails to explore anything further about the characters themselves beyond their very evident cliches. The protagonist himself is the antithesis of complex and the villain almost painfully predictable. I hate to be so down on something of Kon's, but I admittedly forgot most of the story after I finished reading it. The art is beautiful but I personally feel Kon could've done a lot more with this material.

I loved these volumes so much I wrote a review especially to put on one of the manga shelves at work. It went something like this:

Planetes is a riveting, beautifully depicted piece of sci-fi realism that is, at its heart, a love letter to humanity in space.

Focusing on the crew of spaceship 'Toy Box,' a debris-collecting vehicle roaming the dark and cluttered space skies, we are introduced to a vast world filled with all sorts of mysteries and conspiracies, terrorists and dreamers in a world where space is a part of everyday life. We follow Commander Fee, Yuri, Ai and Hachirota as they ... deal with the qualms of being in such an environment, along with their own personal issues.

Planetes is an undeniable treasure and classic which had me in awe at the loveability of the characters and the relatability of each of their personalities. It's a significant thing when a series focused on the loneliness of space is filled with enough warmth and radiance to leave you with nothing but hope for the future. Each character has their share of doubts and tragedy--Yuri, for example, has dedicated his life to cleaning debris after the cluster of which impacted a spaceship and killed his wife--yet unity and love once again triumphs, even over the most hopeless and determined dreamers. I especially enjoyed the philosophical debates Yukimura raises throughout, particularly the difficulty of accepting ones dreams even if such a thing means leaving family behind.

Overall the most pertinent question I had while reading Planetes was whether or not I would finish it believing humanity could truly find a place in space. While I still haven't come to a complete conclusion, I think Planetes above all gives us hope, which I think is the most important lesson to be learnt here. I loved this series a lot and my thoughts are everywhere.

(Written after completion of Season 1&2)

Love Live is pretty sweet and enjoyable. I love anything involving girls becoming pop stars/music bands so I was guaranteed enjoyment out of this. I figured I wouldn't like it as much as I did K-On! and I was right, but I still fell in love with the cast and cheered them along until the end. I actually liked the second season more because of the development of the characters and their background, whereas season 1 was more of a cluster of characters following a plot. There are cliche tropes scattered throughout but it's still charming and loveable. It ... even had me a little teary-eyed at the end as everyone can relate to that feeling of growing apart after high school and looking back on happy memories. Nothing new or unique, but enjoyable all the same.

I really thought I'd like this at least enough to continue, but it just wasn't for me. I've been wanting to read this for a while and it was on my 'number one' list as one of the ultimate yuri classics - I mean, a girl wanting to be a prince and protecting another girl is pretty bloody high up on my can-relate list, and I love Shojo art; anything sparkly is fine by me (Note: I just want gay Sailor Moon). The artwork was beautiful but I felt the story was kind of lacking and the characters fell flat. The whole Utena being rescued ... by a rose obsessed prince (or something?) rang kind of lame. It was disappointing that she was set up to be this strong character but was still reliant on a prince to come rescue her or meet her or give her a rose or whatever. She even transfers schools at the drop of the hat because hey! the prince is supposed to be there! maybe! As a manga that supposedly blasted through stereotypical shojo cliches, there's an awful lot of them and the misogyny was pretty irritating and uncomfortable. Maybe I was expecting too much but I thought this was supposed to be a milestone in manga or something unique or... you know... revolutionary? Maybe I stopped too soon and it gets better, but I have too many titles to get through to bother with this again.

TL;DR: I came to the series with its flaws and hype in mind and ended up loving it anyway. It's an amazing series. Go watch it.

I tried very hard to view YOI as objectively as possible while watching. Throughout each episode, I kept in mind both the hype of the series as well as its complaints and flaws since I figured this would give me the best chance of viewing it with a fresh mind.

And having said that, I absolutely LOVED YOI and every moment of it. Everything from the beauty and hardship of figure skating to the character development and sense of unity, ... YOI is honestly a treasure. As an early 20s lesbian hoping to see more down-to-earth same-sex relationships in her share of anime, I loved the brazenness of a m/m relationship beneath a sports anime. Some people have complained that this is an arguably 'gay for sake' series but I've seen more than enough BL series and other eye-candy sports anime and I've never seen anything come close to what Yuri on Ice has put out. The controversial moment when Yuri and Victor exchange rings, for example, is downplayed of course but I was more interested in the reaction from their friends. The thought of them being married is met with unadulterated congratulations and there's no overwhelmingly stupid 'But! We're both men!!' overshadowing it, which seems to preside in most BL material. Instead it is viewed as merely another thing they can strive towards.

On that note, I really, truly believe calling YOI 'queerbait' is kind of offensive and a disservice to the meaning behind the series as a whole. Throughout Yuri's performances we are constantly reminded of the different types of love whether it be platonic, sensual or otherwise and are shown how it can be integrated in the skaters' routines to deliver artistically beautiful performances. I mean I get it: certain scenes could be purely fanservice, but isn't this the case with most comedic romance series'? I'll fall over if I have to watch another dramatic f/m scene or see some 'hilariously' perverse misunderstanding involving boobs and hot tubs. YOI offers a fraction of this and actually puts out meaningful sequences and story alongside it instead.

YOI isn't a masterpiece, but comes close to being so to me personally. The characters in all their diverse glory are exquisitely developed in such a way as to remind us of the people behind the performances and the pressure. Yuri(o!) for example (Yuri's rival), develops in the series to become more personable than arguably Yuri himself, showing his true intentions and will to further encourage others in order to better himself. Hell, even JJ won me over a little after I got over his annoying catchphrases. A prevalent theme in YOI is unity and sportsmanship: the skaters come together to cheer each other on and show their support when they make errors. It's a really heartwarming thing to see.

As a sidebar, a really cool thing about this anime I noticed was the integration of social media. It's done is such a subtle way it made the series pretty endearing and a lot more down-to-earth. The end Insta-credits are seriously cute.

So yeah, I loved it. Sorry.
And no, I don't have Yuri on Ice as my ringtone.

Having enjoyed marathon-ing Iwaaki's Parasyte manga back in the mid-noughties, I couldn't help but jump at the chance to wade in its parasitic waters on screen.

It was entirely enjoyable. Sporting some pretty cool tracks (as in me-serenading-my-wife-cool tracks) in the intro and ending, the story is neatly compiled and flows somewhat smoothly up to a point. Some characters have some depth, such as Shinichi and Migi's progression throughout the series and how they change. Migi is a complex, fascinating little organism who arguably serves as the 'in-between' for the dueling human and parasyte conflict. Its motives are never truly clear and it serves to ... further the series' philosophical discussion: where do we fall in the 'Great Plan,' or lack thereof?

Aside from the notable flaws: a slightly disjointed plot, forgettable characters (I'm looking at you Murano), along with some lackluster fight sequences, Parasyte never fell below the average level to me. The drama and philosophical discussion kept me pushing until the end and I was not disappointed by the experience. The questions regarding morality and corruption were effective in that they were an interesting way of pushing the plot forward while having us question the character's motives. Tamura Reiko, for example, was one of the most exquisitely tragic portrayals of any character Parasyte has brought to the screen and perhaps one of the most complex and intriguing. It was only through her character when I started to really care and wonder about the Parasyte's biology and thought: how it was evolving and whether or not we were right to pass judgement on something we could not possibly understand.

All in all, it was a fun ride despite not being 100% flawless.

I'm going to start by getting this out first: I love Junjou Romantica. Now it's obvious this would come up given that both works are by the legendary genius Shingiku Nakamura whose BL/yaoi have made for one of the best-selling yaoi of all time. Sekaiichi Hatsukoi is somewhat of a 'spin-off' of of Junjou, taking place in the same universe and following a similar style and formula. A guy hired as a manga editor for Makawa Publishing surrounded by men trying to mimic their shounen demographic by way of getting in touch with their feminine side? SOUNDS LIKE AN A+ PLAN TO ME.

But I ... didn't like this as much honestly. And I really wanted to. I know I'm in the minority here but I thought the panels were pretty cluttered and I didn't feel the same endearing quality of Junjou, nor the likability of the characters. It's a decent story and a ton of fun but I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to--I'm not going to knock it for being a sweet romance though.

"This is why men are scum."

Unapologetically lewd and undeniably enjoyable, Prison School is an anime I haven't seen for quite some time and was surprised to like it as much as I did.

A top-selling ecchi in Japan, the premise is odd but simple: five boys have been unilaterally admitted into the stern girls-only Hachimitsu Academy. Since according to President Kurihara: "all men are scum", the five are caught peeping and are immediately banished to the prison section of the school for a punishment otherwise known as some seriously hardcore detention. Soon after, the Underground School council - made up of three arguably sadistic leaders, including ... the wonderful Meiko Shiraki - begin to put them to work relentlessly and deal out severe punishment when due...or not.

I wasn't looking for an intelligently elaborate story when I began watching Prison School and I didn't get one, yet I still laughed myself silly and couldn't help but like the male characters, especially Gakuto. The personalities of the boys were endearing and at times bloody funny. I'm no stranger to particularly peverse anime but it's rare I find one that can genuinely make me laugh with its mix-ups and ridiculous scenarios (like poop.mp3). My only complaint was that I could've used more background stories from the girls themselves to explain how they ended up in their high-ranking positions (I'm assuming it wasn't just their athleticism or Miyagi-like karate skills).

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I loved it. And not just because of Meiko Shiraki's huge personalities.