dystopia
Rideback
Worlds change in an instant, mused Rin Ogata as she danced on stage. She was a rising star in the ballet world, but when her ankle gives way it changes what she had thought would be the rest of her life, following her mother’s path of the prima ballerina. Now that the dream had slipped [...]
Shigurui: Death Frenzy
On a bleached out courtyard at Sunpu Castle, two men disfigured by a life of perpetual violence face off to bring sweet destruction to the other man. Shigurui: Death Frenzy then takes the viewer back to the beginning of the story in order to explain this moment. It is blood, guts, and brutality.
Shangri-la, Turning Point
At the end of Shangri-la, episode 9, Kuniko discovered something harsh, something cruel. The burden of leadership isn’t the water on your back. The true burden of leadership is the price paid by those who put their faith in you. Tough lesson, Kuniko. How will you react? You’ve been pretty cavalier and found it easy [...]
Turning Kuniko in Akihabara
Akihabara soothes the otaku heart. Can you feel it? The world in Shangri-la somehow becomes a little more real when we follow Kuniko to Akihabara — damn, otaku are annoying people.
Shangri-la: In the Dark Ocean of Trees
Episode two was boring and didn’t do much to advance the story or the characters. All we learned was jungles are bad places, people still play lotto, and this is one twisted loli: I’ll give it a few more episodes. Hopefully, the premise of Shangri-la can survive the production.
Shangri-La Opener
Shangri-La seems like it could be an interesting show, but after one episode it’s way too early to tell. There are quite a few things thrown in there that are a little hard to make out what is what, but so far the star of the show is the setting. Ruins covered in vegetation make [...]
Finished Up SpeedGrapher
I wanted SpeedGrapher to be one of those well executed anime that had something to say about the broken side of modern life. It showed promise as an anti-cute, grim look at greed, but instead presents a far too idealized dystopia complete with a monolithic corrupt upper class, that I had a hard time taking [...]
