Posts Tagged: Anime

I’ve read an awful lot of fantasy, and watched an awful lot of anime, and both canvases are incredibly broad and notoriously hard to characterize.

When first discussing this essay, comparing and contrasting the traditional hero narrative in fantasy fiction and anime, with my friend Casey Blair, I found myself in a bit of difficulty. I’ve read an awful lot of fantasy, and watched an awful lot of anime, and both canvases are incredibly broad and notoriously hard to characterize.

Fantasy, after all, includes classics like Lord of the Rings, heroic secondary-world epics like The Wheel of Time, wainscot fantasy like Harry Potter, and the magical realism of The City & The City, covering sub-genres like urban fantasy and steampunk in between. It’s very hard to write a coherent comparison that covers both C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia and Max Gladstone’s Three Parts Dead, for all that we shelve them in the same genre.

Similarly, anime is unbelievably diverse, more so than all but the most hardcore of fans realize. (Because the US translation companies skim the cream of the crop, picking the hit shows and often passing over the stuff with less broad appeal.) From staples like Dragonball, Sailor Moon, or Naruto, anime goes all the way to Revolutionary Girl Utena (which is so symbolic as to be almost abstract) and Non Non Biyori (which is about a bunch of girls in a rural village chatting about nothing in particular). It includes every genre of speculative fiction we have in the US, and some we don’t. Read More »

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Images via Sokka’s Cactus Juice

The first two seasons of The Legend of Korra were problematic for a few reasons. Chief among these is its lack of an identity and defined set of goals. Avatar: The Last Airbender established its goal in the first episode: save the world from the machinations of the Fire Nation and its power-hungry leader. The Legend of Korra, on the other hand, can’t decide if it’s a coming-of-age story, an exploration of social and political revolution, a buddy-cop comedy, or an epic fantasy. Instead of dedicating itself to a tight focus, it splits its attention between all of these themes and doesn’t do any of them particularly well. Read More »

Richard J. Evans, knows the way to my heart. Recently, the graphic artist from Birmingham, England released a collection of art based on Studio Ghibli’s popular films, including: Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Ponyo, and Princess Mononoke. I’m all a-flutter with delight.

“I’ve been experimenting in different styles lately, and I’ve always loved pixel art,” Evans told Wired. “I was trying to think of what to do, and I just thought there were already loads of 8-bit superheroes. Studio Ghibli would be something a bit different.”

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On his official Behance profile, where the full set of artwork can be found, Evans further described his choice to honor the work of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki, one of Japan’s most revered film makers. “To celebrate the release of ‘The Wind Rises’, said to be the last animated feature from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki,” he said, “I wanted to pay tribute to the amazing work of Studio Ghibli by re-creating some of their most beloved characters in pixel art.”

You can find more of Evans’ art on his official website.

Harry Potter Anime

Anime was always a part of my life growing up. From Speed Racer as a kid, to Sailor Moon as a pre-teen, to the first time my friend and I discovered Akira as high schoolers, I’ve been attracted to their unusual fantasy and science fiction tales. I’m also a raving Harry Potter fan.

So, I sorta have to be obsessed with Nacho Punch‘s mashup of Harry Potter and post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk ’80s anime, right?

Oh, right, spoilers (if you’ve been living under a rock for a decade and haven’t read Harry Potter.)