Artemis

Sakura-Con 2014 by Caitlin Moore

I got there at around 10:45, just in time to wander around hopelessly lost in the labyrinthine convention center for a half an hour before finding my way to the “Crossdressing for Fun and Profit in Anime and Manga” panel. The title made me skeptical, but the description sounded good – there’s a lot of ignorance about gender-related issues in anime fandom as well as a good deal of ethnocentrism and things can get ugly pretty quickly.

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Anime

Short Peace

In “Possessions,” a traveling artisan gets lost in a storm and seeks shelter in an unkempt shrine in the middle of the forest. “Combustible” follows two childhood friends as they grow up and apart. “Gambo” is a white bear demon being hunted by a renegade samurai. When he meets the last daughter of a village being terrorized by a large red demon, the two are able to understand each other and he sets off to set things right. In “A Farewell to Weapons,” a team of weapon diffusers is sent to neutralize and dismantle leftover weapons from a war that has left Tokyo decimated. When the hunt moves underground, an old subway line becomes the crucible to determine what men and machines are really made of.

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Aysera

Psycho-Pass

The story of Psycho-Pass takes place in Japan in the year 2113. Akane Tsunemori has recently assigned to Unit One of the Criminal Investigation Division in the Ministry of Welfare’s Public Safety Bureau, and is tasked with hunting down criminals with the other members of Unit One, apprehending them, and, if needed, eliminating them on the spot. As Akane and her team take down more and more criminals, they begin to notice a subtle connection between all of them, and eventually become entangled in not only the web of the criminal mastermind known only as “Makishima”, but a conspiracy involving the criminal justice system itself.

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Brynhilder in the Darkness

Brynhildr in the Darkness: Episode 02-04 Review

Brynhildr in the Darkness is an anime that is pantomiming a depth I’m not sure it possesses yet. The plot is thickening, and I’m enjoying some aspects while being leery about others. They mystery behind the witches’ creation is what I’m most anxious to see. How did all the girls become witches? How is the lab still in operation? These are questions I’m interested in the show addressing.

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New in Japan

Baby Steps: Episode 02 – 04 Review

I found myself at several points thinking to myself what all the sports anime tropes are. The early ultimatum-based skills test, the final chance to succeed before being forced to quit the sport forever, the academics suffering because Our Hero is pouring himself into his newfound love….Nope. Not here.

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Toku2

Shocker & Terror: Kamen Rider’s Darkest Themes

Thematically, Kamen Rider started off as a darker science fiction series with a moralistic core. As time went on, we eventually saw series released under the Kamen Rider name with a more lighthearted approach. However, the grimier roots of Kamen Rider seem to remain fan favorites!

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