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Anime and Manga Reviews
Oreimo
Oreimo
俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない
Anime Review by Karen Gellender

OreimoOpposite sex sibling relationships can be weird. There's that shared intimacy from childhood, like the fact that you both took baths together when you were toddlers. Then, one day the little sister who used to try to eat crayons can suddenly fill out a bikini, and everything gets weird. Brothers and sisters are unique in that they can have a close, often very physical relationship (sometimes of the 'give me my cookie back or I will beat you' variety, but still), yet not have that relationship be remotely romantic in nature. There's nothing else quite like that dynamic.

Ore no Imoto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (called Oreimo for short, and for our sanity) both explores this brother/sister dynamic in more depth than we usually see, and playfully makes fun of otaku culture at the same time. Read More...

Oreimo

Hidamari Sketch
Hidamari Sketch
ひだまりスケッチ
Anime Review by Karen Gellender

Hidamari SketchSometimes, we all need some comfort TV. A show that s not going to challenge you or inspire you to set new goals for yourself, but just makes you feel good. Hidamari Sketch is that kind of visual comfort food: the piping hot chicken noodle soup of anime. It may not be ambitious or groundbreaking, but boy does it make you feel better after a rough day.

The show is an all-girl slice-of-life comedy that takes place in an art school or more specifically, a dorm called Hidamari Apartments located right across from the school. The focus on art, especially drawing, means the show has a lot in common with other art-themed anime like Sketchbook; full colors and especially GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class (which, just like HS, was adapted from a four-panel manga.) However, while art fiends will obviously get that much more out of the show, HS is a bit more of a general slice-of-life show than some of its rivals; those who enjoy geeking out over exactly what kind of drawing pencil to buy may enjoy GA more. Of course, we recommend watching both — why take chances? Read More...

Hidamari Sketch

Shangril-La
Shangri-La
シャングリ・ラ
Anime Review by Brian Cirulnick

Shangril-LaShangri-la is definitely "hard" Sci-Fi. And by hard, I mean, hard to follow! Seriously, there were times I felt like I needed a Ph.D. in economics to follow some of what was going on. This anime may be proof that we are behind on the educational curve for industrialized nations, since Japanese kids clearly have a better understanding of carbon credits than I do.

Global warming has taken over the Earth and humanity fights to survive, in its wake, a global carbon credits market has sprung up, allowing countries to pay for potentially damaging emissions, sort of like the stock market, except that in this case, burning a lot of fuel can bankrupt a nation.

To this end, Japan (or at least Tokyo) has turned itself into a giant dense forest, where a few scattered villagers live and struggle to survive, and also live in the shadow of a massive construction project, Atlas -- a single building large enough to hold the population of Japan - or so they say... Read More...

Shangril-La

King of Thorn
King of Thorn
いばらの王
Anime Review by Brian Cirulnick

King of ThornKing of Thorn goes places anime doesn't normally go -- they did a straight-up HORROR FILM. That said, the film uses many of the tired tropes of a horror or thriller, but then again, if you weren't using the same tropes, the result might not be recognizable as a horror film.

Also, I have to admit, as I'm not a horror fanatic, I found some of the plot twists to be a surprise, although upon further reflection, I realized that anyone with a smattering of experience in this genre may actually guess many of the plot points as the film rolls along. Nevertheless, it was entertaining until it became convoluted.

Essentially, humanity is being ravaged by a "medusa virus" that turns people into stone, and there's currently no cure. So, a multi-billion-dollar company called Venus Gate plans to send 160 randomly selected humans into cryogenic hibernation where they will hopefully revive 100 years later when there is a cure. Read More...

King of Thorn

Girligami
Girligami
Japanese Crafts Book Review by Linda Yau

Folding can definitely pass the time for many people. It can also strengthen the relationship between two friends. Especially if the objects to be folded are considered cute and sweet like cupcakes, dress, heels, chocolate covered strawberries. Check out Girligami, since everything needed to complete projects from the book are scissors, hands, glue/tape and perhaps a color xerox machine to reuse the paper. There is even Cindy Ng's website at http://www.girligami.com/index.html to download for more paper if that's a route to take. Easy peasy right?

There are 12 simple projects in this book, and upon completion of these projects, the amount of time to play tea time or pretend house is endless. Flipping through this book brings to my mind the amount of time my sister and friends spent dealing with paper dolls when they were children themselves. Read More...

Girligami

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