Alright, despite what was just said two weeks ago (talk about flip-flopping), Stereo Otaku is going to go on a hiatus. Teaching and my thesis research is taking, understandably, a lot of time out of my day. While we love working on this site, and interacting with other fans, I have to keep my priorities … Continue reading
Kamichu!
KAMICHU! Watched via DVD WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: Kamichu! is yet another one of those school girl goddess series. The title translates to “A Deity as a Middle School Student”, which I’d argue is backwards considering she was first and foremost a student and secondly a “god.” Kamichu! came out in 2005, and it is easy … Continue reading
The Wind Rises
THE WIND RISES Watched via theater/BD WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: The Wind Rises is a semi-biographical historical drama centering around the life and work of Jiro Horikoshi, a famous designer for fighter planes in World War II. It seems rather fitting that Hayao Miyazaki would pick a biography as the subject matter for his last film. … Continue reading
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun
MONTHLY GIRLS’ NOZAKI-KUN Watched via Crunchyroll WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun may initially seem anti-shoujo, but if anything it is a pleasant reimagining of the genre. In a time where girls’ manga series are all about an ugly girl falling in love with a dreamy heart throb, it is refreshing to find a series … Continue reading
Vandread vs. s-CRY-ed
Vandread VS. s-CRY-ed Watched via DVD and Adult Swim/DVD WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: Vandread opens with what could possibly be the best hook of any harem anime series. Just prior to launching a war ship into outer space, a whole army of men are shown a propaganda film granting the viewer insight into this highly unusual … Continue reading
Millennium Actress
MILLENNIUM ACTRESS Watched via DVD WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: Millennium Actress is Satoshi Kon’s ode to Japanese filmmaking. The story follows Genya Tachibana as he hunts down and interviews Chiyoko Fujiwara, the most famous actress of early and upcoming film in early 20th century Japan (while dramatized, she really is based off of one or two … Continue reading
Attack on Titan
ATTACK ON TITAN Watched via Netflix/Crunchyroll WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: It has been well over a hundred years since the last “titans”, large humanoid creatures known for their brutal attacks, have been seen by mankind. While they once terrorized and drove humanity into walled cities, they have long since been regarded as mere legend. With the … Continue reading
Paranoia Agent
PARANOIA AGENT Watched via Adult Swim/DVD WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: Paranoia Agent is a television series written and directed by Satoshi Kon. Many of his works explore themes of social media, psychoanalysis, and deviance. Satoshi Kon used this series as an opportunity to explore these themes in experimental ways he was unable to before in his … Continue reading
Gokusen
GOKUSEN Watched via DVD WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: You have probably never heard of Gokusen unless you happen to also be a J-drama fan. This series is based off of a serialized manga, that also happened to be turned into a popular J-drama featuring of course, a lot of J-idols. I love all three versions of … Continue reading
Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth vs. Gosick
Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth VS. Gosick Watched via Hulu and Crunchyroll WHITNEY CRYSTAL PLOT: Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth (crossroads of a foreign maze) explores the immersion of Japanese culture into Western countries, in particular France, in the late 1800s. As a lot of fans probably know by now, Japan was relatively cut off … Continue reading
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