I’d hate to be a mangaka. I mean, it’s a real “shotgun” sort of business: The publishers throw all sorts of stuff out there looking to see what sticks to the wall. And as the writer you want it to stick, too. I mean, you’re not a salaried member of the publication staff; you get […]
Read more "Off the Rails: Arakawa Under the Bridge"I have said it before and I will say it again: one of the things I like about Shinichiro Watanabe’s work is that he treats female characters with the same respect he treats male characters. Faye Valentine, Lisa Mishima, Carole Stanley; even when they are tropes (Faye is a Look at Me Woman and Carole […]
Read more "Character Analysis: Fuu Kasumi"Okay, let’s get it out of the way: Satoshi Kon was a dude with a very interesting mind and perspective on the world, and one of the things that really interested him was the nature of reality. Like a lot of philosophers and neuroscientists he was aware that for most of us, most of reality […]
Read more "Character Analysis: Li’l Slugger"Okay, so let’s throw this on the floor right off the bat: Shinichiro Watanabe is like unto a god. The guy who conceived and directed Cowboy Bebop? I mean, seriously. Fortunately, Buddhism isn’t monotheistic, so we can have lots of gods. To me, Watanabe is literally a visionary director: he has a great eye for […]
Read more "How Long is This Series: Kids on the Slope"
Confessions of an Overage otaku 