First Impression – The Ancient Magus’ Bride

Over the past year I’ve seen announcements for The Ancient Magus’ Bride on several outlets, and on subscribing to Crunchyroll—which I highly recommend as it’s cheap and you get almost every series now airing—I kept noticing them mention The Ancient Magus’ Bride and limited screenings, which confused me as to whether this was a show or a film.

But then one weekend, a week ahead of the release of the first episode of the series, I saw The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Those Awaiting a Star, the 3-episode OVA. I affected me in a way very few stories do, in both the tragic sense, as the character is but a child and the mistreatment of children, even in fiction, is one of the things that truly upsets me. But there is also so much wonder and hope and joy in the story to offset the sadness that in the end it left me smiling and wanting more of the story. Continue reading First Impression – The Ancient Magus’ Bride

Binge Watching – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

A few years ago, I wrote about Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and how much I enjoyed it. At the time, I had seen the first two story arcs of the anime and reach halfway through the third on the manga it’s adapted from, but because of changes in my life, I lost track of the series and didn’t see the adaptation of the third story arc, Stardust Crusaders.

Until now. I’ve been enjoying it for the past couple of weeks, taking any free time I can to go through its 48 episodes of pure undiluted madness. Continue reading Binge Watching – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Worth Watching – To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

In the past I’ve mentioned the To Aru Majutsu no Index—A Certain Magical Index in English—and how much I love the world it takes place in, how it combines the idea of scientific research and Espers with magical theories and sorcery, as part of the holy grail of genres, Science-Fantasy. But there is another series I love in that universe, the spinoff, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun—A Certain Scientific Railgun.

The ‘Railgun’ in its name refers to the spinoff’s main character and one of the secondary ones in the main Index storylines, Misaka Mikoto, one of the seven Level 5 Espers, the most powerful super-powered students in Academy City. Misaka is what they call, in the series, an Electromaster, someone who can generate and absorb electricity and use it in a myriad of ways, from throwing out Sith Lightning to generating magnetic fields. But it’s Misaka’s ability to fire a coin from her hand as a highly destructive railgun that earned her the name. Continue reading Worth Watching – To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Review: Berserk

If you were branded for death by evil spirits and you had to fend off nightmarish demons every night to survive, you wouldn’t last long. But Guts has, and continues to do so in Berserk.

Continue reading Review: Berserk

Why I love JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken) is a long running manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki and in publication since 1986. It’s been adapted to videogames and OAVs and, most recently, two anime series with the second one currently airing.

The world of JoJo has Vampires, Martial Arts, Gentlemen, Nazis, 1920s America, 1980s Japan and more and more. This is a series where a Nazi Cyborg shooting lasers from his mechanical eye is not only normal but also expected.

And I love it! Continue reading Why I love JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure!