The Book of the Shadows

First, I have an addition to make to one of the other pages, and then I'll get into some stuff that will be coming up soon.

Most anime don't start as anime. Most anime start as manga, or games, or novels. Should that balance be changed around? Or is it what it is?

It’s January, which means a new season of anime is here.

I have just had a tough time getting posts out the door for Mondays lately. It’s crazy – something always comes up. Oh well, on to other, better things.

Today is the day that I will be doing a bit of a preview of the fall anime season of this year. The season is already underway, with several shows premiering this week, and at least one anime already having premiered. I’ll make a few comments on what to look out for this fall.

I saw an article on Crunchyroll on Sunday. It talks about the fact that in judging the quality of anime and the anime industry, that a lot of people lack perspective and as a result there is the widespread derision of the industry as being on the decline in terms of quality.

I know I said I wouldn't... but here's another anime update for the mid-point (roughly) of the summer anime season...

Alright, here goes with my wrap-up I promised earlier this week. There were a good number of shows that were, in my opinion, above average this season.

As I've mentioned before, I like to look at odd, funny, interesting commercials and adds. I saw the story about this one on Anime News Network yesterday. I don't know how big Pizza Hut is in Japan, but at the very least they certainly sponsor a good deal of anime. Perhaps the most apparent and consistent sponsorship was with Code Geass a few years back, where the female lead, C.C., constantly used the credit card of the male lead, Lelouch, to buy pizza. She also had the nickname pizza girl in the series in part for her risking discovery by the enemy all so she could get a slice of an attempted record setting giant pizza. Her iconic large yellow plushie was an item she received for being a frequent Pizza Hut customer. The U.S audiences weren't "treated" to the specific ad placements when the show made its way state side, but it's relatively easy to spot if you're looking for it. New anime this season, Attack on Titan, is not the same situation. Don...

About a year ago I had a little bit of spending money and wanted to buy a game to kill some time on. I'd just gotten mostly through Bayonetta, which was a terrific game, and so I wanted a new game for my 360. I trolled about the web reading reviews of some games I'd heard about. Along the way I came across a game - BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. I didn't know what to make of the game right away. Just on presentation it looked amazing. The graphics were solid, they had some really well done, polished, cut-scenes with anime quality. The gameplay was good too. Make no mistake, it is a tough game. The combat system relies on a series of complex button combos, and the opponents are not the easiest you will find in a fighting game. There is a bit of novelty to this style of game. For those reading this who don't know the game's history, it started out as an arcade game. No, it's not an ancient relic from the 90s that got a gussied up re-make, it is a modern arcade ga...