8 Nights of Kara no Kyoukai, Part Two: Satsujin Kousatsu (Zen)

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Fate/Stay Night and the Power of Not Knowing Shit

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Ore no Imouto 8: An Emergency Episodic Blog Post!

Well, this is embarassing! I’m supposed to be on hiatus until December 3rd, but Ore no Imouto 8 warrants a post from me, and besides there being no point in waiting, I’ve got no room in my December schedule, so here’s a My Sword is Unbelievably Dull appetizer!

 

Art by koro http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=547720

Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) Volume One Review – Sick, Breakneck, Modern Psychological Fun

Sakae Esuno‘s Future Diary (or Mirai Nikki as it is known in Japan and still know by most fans) is a psychological thriller that might be one of the best entry points into modern Japenese young adult fiction around. The first volume, which has recently been published in the US by Tokyopop, moves at an insane, whiplash-inducing pace that burns through plot elements, action scenes, character interaction, and emotional development so fast you might not even realize at first that any of it happened. However, whether you have just finished your first blast-through or are turning the pages again for a closer look, there’s no doubt that you’ll find something enticing in the pages of the Future Diary.

Favorite Anime Universes

In the world of American comics, fantasy, and sci-fi, most of the big stuff consists of assloads of stories set in one central universe. Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Warcraft – stuff like this has a big universe of works that fans can devote themselves to. Anime has it’s fair share of universes as well, ranging from immensely huge and decade-crossing, some of a great size that are relevant only to otaku, and many smaller universes lying around.

Standing high above anything else are the big guns like the Gundam Universe(s), the Macross Universe, the Leijiverse, the Pokemon Universe and so on. Then we have some universes that are less universally known but still enormous, especially for otaku. The Type-Moon Universe is certainly up there, but for sheer unbridled scope, the Touhou Universe stands above everything. I want to talk about my own favorite universes, most of which are a little smaller and more homely but still large enough that they should be called a universe and popular enough for a strong cult following. (NOTE: Please don’t comment in regards to what should or shouldn’t be called a universe or metaseries, I’m just trying to make a post.)

Artist Highlight: ban akira – The Dark Side of the Scarlet Family

On one of my other artist highlights, ETERNAL commented that he was surprised to see Remillia Scarlet actually acting like a vampire instead of looking all moe. I found this a little funny, since the dark side is how I know the Scarlet family. I first got interested in Touhou when I kept running into Remillia pictures when I was searching the tag ‘blood’ (don’t ask), and seeing this captivating, dark beauty. Remillia has always been my favorite Touhou girl because of her tendency to be in dark images (which I love). So I decided I’d do my next artist highlight on someone who delights in depicting the Scarlet family in a darker way (as well as others like Hatsune Miku – yes, there is a trend in my artist highlights!) ban akira is an amazing artist, which makes me pissed that I couldn’t find a pixiv account or anything like it. You’ll have to settle for gelbooru.