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This show keeps banging in my head. The fantastic British indie-rock opening song in particular, the opening is beautiful.

Serial Experiments Lain doesn't really make sense. The end of the show possesses much more clarity than it's beginning, but frankly it doesn't really feel like a real story at that point, you aren't as invested in the characters but instead the concepts. I kept trying to stay attached to earlier plotlines but they fizzled. Have a buddha-type mindset of accepting whatever happens, don't stay attached to anything here.

Lain is a weirdly relatable character to me, even if she acts as a socially awkward blank canvas. I'm ... sure she's depressed. If Lain herself sounds up your ally I think this show is worth a try on that alone.

The cyberpunk aesthetic of the show is beautiful. It's a perfect fit. The art-style of the characters gives than nostalgic late 90's vibe. I'm not sure exactly what causes it but this show gives me a feeling of deep, undiscovered nostalgia, if you have any idea what I'm talking about you should watch this ASAP.

There are exposition dumps in later episodes, I love the style of narration and the type of context they provide. It's fascinating world-building, even if you don't feel like the world being presented is real most of the time. Its one of those shows where every episode or two you need to take a break to go back to reality, a deeply psychological mindfuck.

Lain is not the anime I was expecting it to be. I was thinking it'd be more like a Psycho-Pass, rather than an Evangelion. But it's cryptic and meaningless, depressing and stupid. But for some reason that's what makes it so great to me. It's a show I'm sure I'll be re-watching multiple times in the future.

The whole show is revolving around a decision that Alexander the Great needs to make. Does he trust his friend? His friend is a half-Persian, and has aroused suspicion in previous situations for being so. But this friend has always proven to have Alexander's best intentions at heart. I like the moral conundrum here. It gives a history lesson at the same time, it also mentions Japan briefly which I found kind of funny (I guess with the Greco-Buddhist stuff it is kinda true that Alexander influenced Japan).

I appreciate how it looks at Alexander before he has accomplished all of the good things, and also ... how Aristotle is spitting facts and wisdom. It's still hard to comprehend that Alexander the god damn Great was tutored by the most important philosophy in history (in my humble opinion).

As hype as I'm making this OVA out to be, it's honestly kinda meh. Unless you have a passion for history it won't be particularly interesting. The animation is kinda creepy and weird, I can't put my finger on why, however. And the story isn't too deep or complex. I'm a history nerd but if I'm frank I'd give this a 6/10. It's decent.

Watamote focuses on Tomoko Kuroki - a sad, lonely, pathetic, socially awkward girl who wants to be the opposite of these things. The anime adaption only adapts the first 36ish chapters, but the manga is currently up to chapter 200.

From 1-36 it's just pure depression, Tomoko is having a rough time socially. Up to about chapter 76 it's the same, but with hints of development. I believe it's chapter 76 where she goes on a road trip, and meets some girls. Initially reading it you wouldn't think she made a very good impression on the other girls, but eventually they become her friends. From here ... onto the current Chapter 200 Tomoko becomes essentially a social butterfly. She's the same person really, but a lot of the sadness and pathetic nature has faded so she can be her genuine self.

She stays pretty perverted though. Good thing she's a chick I don't think it'd fly if she was a guy lmao. I like how Tomoko doesn't become a super normal person after fitting in, she still has quirks. But she's just made herself socially acceptable. It's really wholesome to see. Beforehand Tomoko always viewed others as evil dogs but when we, the readers, get to know the other students beside her we realise they are actually good people (for the most part, there are some bad apples, who are at least prone to some character development).

It's pretty addicting, you want to see what happens next. It is fairly long though, I mean I'm sure the chapters are relatively short by manga standards, but there are 200 of them (excluding part 2s and bonus chapters of course). I had a good time reading it.

I hope the manga ends soonish. She's on her third year of school, the first trimester is done, and so are the summer holidays. I feel there's not too much left to explore. The only plot point I can think of that would be of importance is Tomoko finding a boyfriend, but I would be fine if that doesn't happen. As long as she is in a position where its likely, which I'd say now is looking more and more the case, I don't really need to see it happen. But it would be very satisfying I must admit. Idk, I just like seeing stories have conclusions, and this manga has been going on for over 10 years at this point.

The timespan of the universe slows down over time. Tomoko's first year of High School ends by like chapter 36, but her second chapter is someone between 110-120 if I remember correctly. This is because the more people she meets the more the writers can fit into the story. I like this, although it makes me sad that Tomoko had to suffer a whole year before starting to get some friends. And I mean most of the second year wasn't that great either if I'm remembering correctly.

It's a great manga, I recommend it. The development of Tomoko is fantastic, but the before and after periods of said development are still very entertaining to read. It becomes a different manga by the end really, and that's a good thing. I feel nostalgic just thinking about this manga, it gives me fond memories and will continue to do so. I give it an 8/10.

Solid stuff. If you've watched the anime you know what to expect. A cool book, where if you write the name of someone with some optional details you can kill them. You just need a name and a face and they're good as gone. Light Yagami, a prodigious High School student, picks up the notebook randomly. And then his world changes forever (with the entire world being the world he wishes to change based on his image and ideals).

Light is awesome but also a dick. His character is written and portrayed very well. His arch nemesis, L, is the same, but I'd say less of ... a dick. Their cat and mouse makes for the best part of the Manga, allowing for Light to have an actual challenge. Without L he'd basically have world domination, so he needs an enemy to grapple with.

They could have instead gone with the route that Light is struggling with his morality initially, only having to face L once he finally turns into an evil person. But that all happens in the first chapter. Whilst I would have liked to have seen a Breaking Bad-esque incremental change in Light, I understand the direction they went with his character instead.

A problem I have with this manga is the amount of text at times. Especially in the latter half, it just feels like you're reading a novel with a tone of dialogue at some points, it isn't very "artistic". I understand with the intricate plots you need to explain the motivations and plans in detail but it gets kind of annoying sometimes. This is sort of a problem in the early chapters but I suppose it was so engaging I didn't really notice it much.

The second "half" (after the big thingy) of the manga works better than it did in the anime. They spend more time here fleshing out the new characters and storylines. It still doesn't hit as hard as the first half, but it doesn't feel quite as disappointing here. I think because of this the manga is overall better than the anime technically speaking. But of course seeing these chapters come to life on the small screen is hard to beat enjoyment-wise.

It's a classic story, you need to read it. I suppose the anime would suffice, but I really think getting the original experience is something worth your while. The Death Note manga to me is a 9/10.

Man this shit's lewd as hell. It honestly is borderline S&M porn, it especially feels the case in the first few chapters. But Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro slowly develops into a wholesome friendship/romance story. It revolves around Nagatoro and her Senpai (I forgot her name you most likely will as well) as she toys and teases him. He's an introvert who likes focusing on his art, which he is pretty good at. You don't know much about Nagatoro initially except that she has some friends and she really, really loves to tease her Senpai for some reason.

I think the bullying Nagatoro does ... is quite harsh at the beginning though, if it's not your kind of thing you'll probably stop reading early on. But I actually recommend continuing, it's a fairly quick Manga despite it's chapter count, very light reading.

The art is well done, it looks very clean. From what I've gathered from videos about the subject the artist here had done some inappropriate drawing before this one, and tropes of said inappropriate drawing is reflecting here. A man of culture I see.

I'm a bit confused on the skin tone of Nagatoro. On the colouring here she just seems to have a bit of a tan, like a Ganguro sort of thing. But then in the anime she looks Filipina or something. I guess they just wanted to be more stylistic with the anime. I mean it's black and white here for the most part regardless, just something I found interesting. Also I like how senpai turns out to be quite good looking without the glasses lol. I mean he looks decent with them on, but damn what a makeover lmao.

It's good. Enjoyable and light reading, you'll like it I think. I'm not into S&M at all but they kind of make it work here lmao. Not that there's actual 18+ stuff going on, but I swear it gets bloody close. It's a 7/10.

I think this one-shot holds up well. I think it's the most popular accompanying Death Note manga, and for good reason. The concept here is different - and we're not just talking about the new Death Note owner's zoomer haircut. He has a plan to make the country of Japan rich. Ignoring basic laws of economics this is a pretty cool idea, kinda reminds me of the show Mr. Robot when they redistribute the wealth.

Jokes aside, the kid's a genius. He thinks through his plan perfectly and does a good job at executing it. The plot twist at the end works well for this one ... shot, it's poetic. I like how they have Trump in it as well lol, definitely feels like a 2020 (pre-covid becoming a serious pandemic!) manga.

It's a one shot, and I don't think reviews should be long for things that are quick to read. Just read the damn thing already, it's good and you'll like it. I'd say it's a 7/10.

There's some juicy information on this one. Most likely if you go reading around on the Death Note wiki or whatnot a lot of it's information comes from here. Good lore, a way to satiate yourself of your death note hunger once the Manga is over, alongside the other assorted tiny manga they released after the original ended. You also get to see a more of a casual perspective from the writer of Death Note, someone we still don't know the identity to of this day (perhaps they're afraid a real death note will get him killed? lol).

I like the fleshing out of the lore ... in particular. The lame quiz in the middle doesn't really do it for me lol but it's kinda funny. If you're a bit of a completionist/collector like me you'll enjoy this. I recommend reading it for anyone who's finished the Manga, or perhaps even the show. I'd give it a 7/10.

This is a really brief set of content regarding L's earlier days. It's amusing stuff, showing him in his old orphanage and how he got on there. It also shows a "normal day" for L. If you're an L fanboy (or most likely fangirl given the amount of female simping I've witnessed of the guy) you'll like this one.

The art, writing etc. is on point, what you'd expect. I like how the original creators went out of their way to make this lmao.

Not much else to say about it, you'll probably spend more time looking around the MAL page of this manga than reading it, ... so if you've already finished Death Note what are you waiting for?

It's enjoyable, brief, and does a serviceable job of what it sets out to do. It's wholesome and quality enough to earn an 8/10.

It's kinda difficult to talk about this without spoiling. But suffice to say, this takes place after the original Death Note, with a new death note on the loose. How is the new L going to take this challenge on?

I liked it. It's a fairly simple story but gives some extra content after the manga ended. There's a bit of exploration towards the aftermath the original story had to it's remaining characters. I'd say it feels canon enough, not really like a fanfiction or anything.

I'd give it a read if you're a Death Note fan, you'll like the thing. From me it gets a 7/10.

So these are essentially little "fan-fic" stories about the world of Watamote, of course focusing on the main character Tomoko. They get a bit lewder and a bit wackier than the normal manga, but it's enjoyable to see this. I think there's also references to other manga here too, at least there's one that I can remember.

I think after you've caught up on the manga it's worth giving this a read. It's entertaining and some good stuff. There isn't much to say about it, it's fairly brief "fan-fiction" which you will enjoy if you're a Watamote fan.

So yeah, I recommend giving it a read. I ... can't get enough of Watamote so this helps quench the thirst a little. It's a 7/10.