Apr 022014
 
How Kill la Kill Won the Battle for Anime Fans' Attention

The finale of Kill la Kill aired last week, wrapping up a journey filled with epic battles, shocking plot twists, and absurd outfits.  It’s safe to say that this show generated plenty of interest and debate amongst anime fans, and the constant buzz that surrounded it was not without good reason.  Kill la Kill carefully walked several fine lines over [Read more…]

Mar 282014
 
Anime Boston 2014 Report, Part 2: Saturday and Sunday

Continued from Part 1: The second day gets off to a much more leisurely start than the first.  With my press pass already in hand, I’m able to skip all the registration lines and wander into the convention center the minute it opens.  This seems like a great idea until I realize that I’m in almost an hour before anything [Read more…]

Mar 262014
 
Anime Boston 2014 Report, Part 1: Friday

Our Editor in Chief attended Anime Boston on March 21st and 22nd, which marked the first time our website has covered an event with official press credentials.  This article is the first part of a narrative piece on his experience at one of the east coast’s most prominent anime and manga conventions. As any convention veteran would expect, the day [Read more…]

Mar 192014
 
What to Look for at Anime Boston 2014

Anime Boston is this weekend, and those of you reading this are either going or living vicariously through articles about it.  Either way, there’s a lot going on at the big name in east coast anime conventions, so here’s a quick look at some of the most important things happening this year. Attack on Titan dub After revealing the English [Read more…]

Mar 122014
 
Five Lessons Hiding in the Plot of Genshiken

Genshiken holds an interesting and somewhat timeless position in the world of anime and manga.  It follows the members of The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture (abbreviated as the Genshiken), a college club dedicated to geeking out over each and every aspect of otaku culture.  The original manga series began over ten years ago, and recently returned [Read more…]

Mar 052014
 
D-Fragments and the Perils of Anime Comedy

With each new anime season comes a wide array of comedies vying for attention: the romantic comedies, the parodies, the harems and reverse harems, the slices of life, and so on.  Each mixes comedy with an additional element in order to create a (hopefully) stronger final product.  From time to time, though, a series comes along with the audacity to [Read more…]

Feb 262014
 
The Importance of a Good Anime Opening Sequence

The Toonami broadcast of Space Dandy recently started using the full opening credits from the Japanese language version of the show.  While the change was a nice treat for people who’ve been enjoying the English dub, it shouldn’t have made a particularly big difference.  After all, why would a different them song affect how much the audience enjoys the actual [Read more…]

Feb 192014
 
The Strange Success of Monster Musume

In the US, manga bestseller lists are typically the exclusive territory of major franchises like Attack on Titan and Naruto.  A new volume from a less popular series is a big success if it makes the top ten for a week or two before the heavy hitters reclaim their spots.  A niche title is hardly expected to make the list [Read more…]

Feb 122014
 
Unboxing the English Edition of Weiss Schwarz

If there’s one thing anime fans love, it’s tracking down merchandise from our favorite shows.  Print our favorite characters on anything from a mug to a messenger bag and we’ll buy it.  Naturally, then, I was intrigued to learn about a trading card game based around popular anime franchises.  I threw some money at the Internet, and soon had a [Read more…]

Feb 052014
 
The Terror of Explaining Anime to Someone You Just Met

It happens from time to time, even to the best of us.  Caught flat-footed on an off day, we suddenly find ourselves completely incapable of explaining our hobbies to someone without babbling like a moron.  In one terrifying instant, years of knowledge and insight melt away, leaving behind an inarticulate puddle of stupidity.  Here for your amusement is a retelling [Read more…]