I think it’s fair to say that most people reading this will be familiar with the narrative of World War II. The deadliest conflict in all of history fought between the opposing alliances of the Allies and the Axis. These alliances made up the vast majority of the world’s countries and even the nations that remained neutral felt the effect of the war. Growing up in Ireland, the majority of media I consumed were either American or British. These typically portrayed the war in a very black and white fashion. The Allies were heroes who were welcomed wherever they went…
Category: 2019
As I mentioned in my “Why I like Anime” post, I’ve always been a huge fan of animation. This has included both western and Japanese animation. In certain circles of anime fandom though, I feel that western animation is looked down upon, as if anime were the only form of animation worth experiencing. It is worth noting that Osamu Tezuka, in many ways the father of modern anime and manga, was an enthusiastic fan of western animation, having watched various cartoons from America and Europe on a home projector. Osamu Tezuka even claimed to have watched the film Bambi 80…
I think it’s fair to say that, whether or not you like Epic Games Store, it has been a controversial move by Epic to break the Steam monopoly on digital PC game sales. Here, I’m going to state why I think that the Epic Games Store is good for the PC community while also explaining why I don’t use it and have no plans to in the near future. I remember hearing the announcement that Epic was going to release a store around December 2018. Hearing that they were going to release free games every 2 weeks to users and…
You may or may not already be aware of how manga is marketed in Japan but allow me to explain it. Typically, most manga is published in manga magazines aimed at specific demographics. A manga magazine publishes chapters from a variety of series on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. The demographics that these manga magazines tend to target are Kodomo (children), Shonen (teen males), Shojo (teen females), Seinen (adult males) and Josei (adult females). Even a cursory glance at the circulation of these magazines will show that all of these demographics have representation in the top 20 except for…
This might seem like a strange topic but I thought I might explain how I got into anime and why it appeals to me. To start off, it is important to state that I have always adored animation. As a child, I grew up watching Disney, Pixar and Don Bluth movies and they had a strong impact on me, showing me complicated themes and evoking powerful emotions in a visually pleasing package. As I continued to grow up, it is no surprise that I got interested in Pokemon (the whole world pretty much was at the time) but I also…
Some of you may already be aware of this but the first video game that ever had a profound effect on me was Final Fantasy IV. The story and themes blew my 8 year old mind away and allowed me to view the world differently. However, the Active Time Battle system also had a profound effect on me, allowing me to control up to 5 characters at once and harness their abilities. Naturally I continued to gravitate towards turn-based JRPGs as I grew up but, in contrast to my personal tastes, JRPGs began to drop turn-based combat in favour of…
Usually when I’m discussing manga with people, the easy path to conversation is to discuss recent manga. It’s natural with any medium that most people will be far more familiar with recent releases than older ones. Think about when you talk to people about film, television, music etc. It’s usually about recent releases isn’t it? Personally, I feel that manga fans tend to be a little resistant to the notion of pursuing the classics. This was the feeling I got when I established the 24 Hour Manga Marathon several years ago. In it, there was a mandatory category of reading…
You may or may not be aware that 2019 is the 40th anniversary of the airing of the original Gundam series which debuted on the 7th of April, 1979. This, of course, is a significant milestone and cause to be celebrated by Gundam aficionados and newcomers alike. However, Gundam can be intimidating to many and so I thought I’d give an introduction to the franchise. The first thing to note is that Gundam is a mecha series but, more importantly, it’s a war series with the vast majority of Gundam content taking place during times of war and conflict. The…
I’m a gamer. While I do tend to lean towards Japanese games, I still play a variety of games of various genres and national origins. Despite this, I do not own a PS4, Xbox One, Switch or any eighth generation gaming device. The PC is my only source of games and while some may find this strange, I do have my reasons. This is not meant to be taken as hostility towards consoles and people who use them. There are plenty of good reasons to own a console, from exclusive games, the portability of the Switch and the lower upfront…
A common issue I hear when discussing the topic of manga with people is the sheer length of most series. To be fair, when thinking of how many volumes there are in many popular series such as Naruto (72), One Piece (93-), Fairy Tail (63) or Detective Conan (96-), it is no wonder that many people can find the prospect of reading and (heaven forbid) collecting manga to be intimidating. However, I would point out the myriad of manga that consist of only a single volume. As with any industry, releasing continuous content in a franchise typically has diminishing returns.…