by ETERNAL on January 31, 2009
Allusions to manly shooting games aside, I have noticed in my travels through anime and visual novels – particularly the romance-centric ones – that the device of tragedy is very common. Whether in male-targetted visual novels like AIR or more gender-neutral (or even female-targetted) stories like Saikano and Fruits Basket, tragic love stories are a common theme. However, this bleak setting has also received its fair share of criticism, particularly due to the predictable nature of the “genre”, if you will.
Consequently, it seems to me that tragedy is a sort of art. It is also personal preference, of course, but I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that some tragedies are more equal than others. So, with Toki wo Kizamu Uta still melancholically echoing in my ears, I’d like to take a closer look at these Sad Nouns in Season that I so adore and possibly figure out just why I adore them.
by ETERNAL on January 20, 2009
With the conclusion of al|together 2008, eager English-speaking visual novel fans from around the world clamored to play the latest batch of doujin VNs, hand picked by the translation community and brought to us legally for free. While I haven’t played anything close to all of the translated VNs out there (although I have played quite a few things that no one ever mentions…and I can see why no one mentions them), there was one game this year that stood out in my eyes. It was nothing particularly special – nothing intriguing like Ballad of an Evening Butterfly, nothing dramatic like True Remembrance, nothing tear-jerking like Narcissu – but it was a fun experience nonetheless. It served as an excellent reminder to me that stories don’t have to be revolutionary to be good, and though May Sky was far from revolutionary, it was certainly good.
Read on for my spoiler-free review of the game, and a final statement on why you shouldn’t overlook it.
by ETERNAL on January 13, 2009
Picture is vaguely relevant because I always figured Konata could make a decent aniblogger.
Before you say it, this isn’t another editorial vs episodic debate: those have been done countless times before I entered the ’sphere, and they’ll probably be done many more times in the future. Instead, this is both a bit of a site update and a short ramble from yours truly about the topic mentioned in the title.Why bother bringing this up, you ask? Shouldn’t you just make these decisions on your own, and focus on writing something good instead?
Well, the answer to that is actually quite simple: I have an episode of Clannad sitting on my desktop, and the thought of screencapping and reviewing it sounds considerably less pleasant than writing another post like my last one.
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Maria†Holic OP – Of Yuri, Sadistic Traps, and a whole lot of paint
by ETERNAL on January 25, 2009
After watching two seasons of ef and a Hidamari Sketch or two, I can honestly say that SHAFT has completely corrupted me. And by corrupted, I mean that they’ve taught me to appreciate the abstract and to look between the lines – even if there’s nothing there to begin with. Maria+Holic is a lighthearted show compared to the likes of ef, and while the kind of deconstruction that went on during the early days of memories is more suited to a story of ef’s intensity, there’s something oddly alluring about a sadistic trap painting walls with dolls fashioned after his lesbian roomate.
In other words, this show is about as insane as it’s OP, and I’m about to try to make sense out of all of this. I wonder what that says about my sanity?
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