The Top Animes

About a week ago, I asked readers: “How has anime enriched your world?” I got many great replies, and it was hard to narrow them down to just five.  But here they are. This is the final entry on the blog.  Enjoy. — Digibro Anime didn’t enrich my view of the world. It became my [...]

Direct Link to MP3 (5.28 MB, 5 minutes 46 seconds) Links @HirokiJpn on Twitter Sound credits pending! Pictured: Osaka City General Hall (Taisho neo-classical)

Inspired by Radiolab Shorts and 99% Invisible, I’m going for a different approach to the podcast this month. Direct Link to MP3 (11.0 MB, 12 minutes 06 seconds) Links Akirascuro (Moe Fundamentalism) A History of Akihabara (Tokyo Scum Brigade) — Sound credits pending!

Strap in.  This is a long story. In 2007, when Katawa Shoujo made the leap from a 4chan thread to an “official” forum, I was one of the first people to join.  Back then, apart from the admin who created the forum, all voices were equal.  Every day was cacophony.  It was exhilarating. The picture [...]

Continuing my musings on the Enneagram of Personality.  Read the first part here. The following post will feature only screenshots of Kobato doing her sideways-V pose. Kobato is difficult to categorize.  At fourteen, the brain’s electrochemical systems have only just started to put together the patterns that characterize adult thought.  At that age, you’re still [...]

At last, it ends here. Takatsuki Yayoi The charm of Yayoi is her perfect sincerity.  She is an open book, which is why she needs someone who won’t take advantage of her naiveté, and who will appreciate her emotional frankness.  Schneider is just the right fit, a gentle person who appreciates the comforts of domestic [...]

My mad shipper fantasies, continued. Otonashi Kotori Kotori knows how to make a man feel special.  Like static electricity, her femininity is subtle but attractive; it demands not just strength and assertiveness to make a good match, but also a certain sophistication.  Vucub Caquix has the right mix of gentility and masculinity to show her [...]

If you hate Internet community inbreeding posts, prepare for some quality teeth-gnashing. Akizuki Ritsuko The grand conflict of Ritsuko’s heart is that she invests so much in a Type A, go-getter professional life, when in love she yearns to be taken by the hand.  Passive would-be romantics need not apply; with Ritsuko, you must lead.  [...]

What do our fantasies say about us?  In this episode, we go deep into the rabbit hole. This episode covers adult/mature themes.  Listen at your own discretion! Direct Link to MP3 (19.4 MB, 21 minutes 16 seconds) Links Girl Cartoons (8C) Tsurupeta.info (mt-i) My Sword is Unbelievably Dull (21stcenturydigitalboy) “Lolicon: The Reality of ‘Virtual Child [...]

Hello again, dear readers.  Sorry for disappearing unannounced; sometimes reality intrudes.  But let’s get right back to it! I’m extremely skeptical of the perennial claim that anime is fading.  If 2011 is anything to go by, we’re in a beautiful heyday, more satisfying in some ways than even the Akiba-kei boom of 2006-7.  Creativity is [...]