The History of Magical Girl Anime, Part 8

The copyright Nazis aren’t allowing us access to several of SourcererZZ’s videos on the history of the magical girl genre, so the next one I can embed is episode 8, which covers the years 1998 to 1999

He here discusses some very well-known and influential series, starting with Cardcaptor Sakura, which is possibly the most overrated magical girl franchise of all time (I’m sorry, but it’s true) by the inexplicably popular CLAMP. I was geeking out about magical girls with somebody a month or so back, and he described Cardcaptor Sakura as the story of “an adorable, innocent little girl completely surrounded by perverts.” I can’t think of a more accurate description. But I’ll rant on that at another time.

SourcererZZ also discusses the cute witch mega-franchise Ojamojo Doremi, which is known to cause cavities. Then he goes on to describe Phantom Thief Jeanne, the original manga version of which recently saw a re-release. The anime version of that one was bowdlerized from the manga.

He goes on to discuss Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, one of the most bizarre series I’ve ever seen. Although it’s inexpressibly weird, it has an excellent story involving ancient grudges and samurai battles, but it sacrifices much-needed character development on the altar of cheap boob jokes.

‘Chaos Arena: Crystal Fighters’

Chaos Arena: Crystal Fighters, Chapter 1, written and illustrated by Jen and Tyler Bartel. Digital comic. Stēla. 2016.

This is a digital comic, new within the last few months, with a magical girl theme and an unusual premise. I’d like to be able to say more about it than I’m going to, but aside from its first chapter, it is, unfortunately, available only behind a paywall on the Stēla comic-reading app, which is available only on the iPhone.

I have an Android. So I’m going to discuss the first chapter (which you can read online for free) and say what I think so far, and then I’ll leave those of you with iPhones to decide if you want to shell out in order to read further yourselves. The Stēla people need to get their act together and port their app for the rest of us.

Also, you’ll notice I don’t have a link to Stēla’s website or the free first chapter. That’s because I read the chapter on my phone using the web browser, but now that I’ve sat down at my PC to write the review, I find that my anti-malware program has blocked Stēla’s site for malicious content. That could be an error on my end, or it could mean that the Stēla people really need to get their act together. Continue reading “‘Chaos Arena: Crystal Fighters’”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 8

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 8: MAGICAL GIRL VS. VELOCIRAPTOR

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Breathing heavily, Dynamo dragged herself across the school lawn. “Tesla, backup systems!”

Tesla hovered before her face. “Dyna—”

“Do it!”

“Dyna, I want you to reach your eighteenth birthday still human!”

“Zap it all, none of us is reachin’ another birthday unless you boot me up!” Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 8”

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Gets a TVTropes Page!

Some kind soul has gone to the trouble of producing a page on TVTropes for Jake and the Dynamo. I really appreciate it, and I’ll be interested to see if the page grows over time as the novel continues.

My first thought, upon looking over the particular tropes that the page’s creator has picked out … actually, my first thought is that the book sounds kind of pervy.

So let me suggest some additional tropes that might balance that a bit. In no particular order: Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Gets a TVTropes Page!”

The True History of Hawaiian Pizza

Featured image deliciously stolen from here.

I love me some Hawaiian pizza, which in my neck of the woods we call “Canadian bacon and pineapple.” I always have, and I always will. I grew up with it; it was what I ordered as a child whenever the family went out for pizza. And for most of my life, I have been blithely unaware that this is the most divisive of the pizza flavors. Continue reading “The True History of Hawaiian Pizza”

Review: Sailor Moon: Crystal, Season 3 Episode 6

The determined frowny faces of justice!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Crystal, Episode 32, “Setsuna Meioh.” Toei Animation, May 2016. Approx. 24 minutes. Available on Crunchyroll.

I’m way behind on these. But oh well.

This is, on the whole, a pretty good episode, if slow-paced. The story continues to hew closely to the comic, though I notice in this case that it improves on it considerably. Throughout this chapter, the comic book version has a lot of unnecessary internal dialogue that announces the obvious, but the show simply cuts most of it out and allows the audience to read the mood. Though this series sometimes looks like a panel-by-panel presentation of the comic, in this episode, it alters the imagery for the better without altering the story. Continue reading “Review: Sailor Moon: Crystal, Season 3 Episode 6”

Getting Ahead

Featured image: “Eden Eternal” by Nardack.

I’m behind on a few things here, but I’m spending the evening getting a couple of weeks ahead on Jake and the Dynamo, as I anticipate being out of town for a few days in the near future.

If I’m still around, I should probably have a new review up tomorrow.

I Hate Pinterest.

Pinterest, man. You try to trace an image to its source so you can give proper credit to the artist, and you end up in this never-ending maze of pins that just loops back on itself, so you think you’re almost to the original website, but no, you’re back where you started.

Pinterest is, like, entirely dedicated to ripping off stuff. With a click of a button, you can share pictures without giving credit and make it impossible for people to find the original! And it’s as counterintuitive and hard to navigate and all-around schizoid as Google Plus, if not moreso.

I think this picture featured here is by somebody calling himself Nardack. But I wouldn’t swear to it.

Nice picture, though. I even pinned it.

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 7

JAKE AND THE DYNAMO

CHAPTER 7: THE WEAPON

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Margherita smiled, raised her hands in the air, and spun on one foot. “Evildoers beware, for I toss the dough of justice—and justice is never half-baked! Saucy, spicy, and a little bit sweet, I am Magical Girl Space Princess Pizza Margherita!” Continue reading “JAKE AND THE DYNAMO Chapter 7”