One of the things you typically look for in kids’ media … and remember, the target audience for most anime is slightly nerdy Japanese high school boys … is what in my racket (communication professo…
Sep 23, 2024 • Subscribe
More like this
Oh, So Trope-ical: Pinocchio
Yeah, yeah, you’re saying to yourself that Pinocchio wasn’t an anime. First of all, that’s not entirely true. In fact, there have been TWO Pinocchio anime series, one…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Infantilized High School Girl
The Law of Tropes #1: Tropes is tropes because they work. Right? Certain characters/situations/relationships are common because users recognize them and understand them, and because they do somethi…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Oaf
I’ve written a bunch of times about one trope, the Soul Woman. You know who she is: She’s a main character who, when you break her down into…
Oh, So Trope-ical: Pawn Queens
There’s a really great character trope out there if the writers are careful in how they deploy it. You know what it is. The title says it. I…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Lovable Goofball
People love to love the goofy characters, don’t they? You know who they are: They’re people who are funny not because they are comedians or anything like that,…
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, And Yet The Town Moves, Outlaw Star, Outlaw Star
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Metastable Relationship
I’ve talked about metastable relationships in passing so many times it occurs that there’s something bigger going on there. And sho ‘nuf … The term metastable comes from…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Broken Girl
It sure seems like the number of anime where the kids belong to/come from a complete nuclear family with a mother and a father is pretty small. There…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Idol Girl
There are a lot of idol girls in anime. It’s almost unavoidable, right? The purpose of anime is to get eyeballs on the screen, and a key way…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Gamer God
There are certain tropes that are so obvious it’s almost a waste of time to look at them. Oh, man, what’s the point of the Princess in Peril…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Ugly Duckling
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Ugly Duckling Okay, you know the story of the Ugly Duckling and I know the story of the Ugly Duckling. It’s from Hans Christian…
Oh, So Trope-ical: Raised by Wolves
Well, no, I don’t literally mean raised by actual, you know, wolves, since, you know that doesn’t really happen, the myth of Romulus and Remus aside. But what…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Hair Bra
The point of manga and anime is to get eyeballs onto content, whether it’s paid for directly (by buying manga) or indirectly (by ad sales during anime). In…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Superhero Doctor
Regular readers know I bring a few perspectives to these posts. Published writer looking at writing. Award-winning animator looking at animation. And yeah, I can do the critic/critique…
Oh, So Trope-ical: The Sexually Aggressive Gal
Yeah, I started spelling it Trope-ical. There’s no point in a pun no one gets. But yeah, there are a lot of tropes in storytelling. That’s not an…
Oh So Trope-ical: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Tropes are one of those things that I’ve mentioned about a zillion times but never actually talked about. There’s probably a formal definition, but a trope is basically…
Oh, So Trope-cal: I Can’t Say “I Love You”
Look, if you’re writing a popular romance manga, or an anime made from a popular romance manga, you often have a big problem: How do you keep the…
[Eleven] “(You’re) so cool!” — Tsuritama
Many anime series have ruined an excellent start with a mediocre or bad ending. Tsuritama is not one of those series. Instead it’s one of the most well-plotted…
Review: Too Cool to Kill (2022)
Too Cool to Kill 这个杀手不太冷静 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 109 mins. Director: Xing Wenxiong 邢文雄. Rating: 5/10. Loose adaptation of Japanese comedy The Magic Hour is Ma Hua…
Reflections: Am I too old for anime high school?
For most of my adult life, I’ve put on this guise of being an old, world-weary man who had it all figured out. Even when I was 24,…
Cute Girls Eating Too Much – The Adorable Glutton Trope
Cute Girls Eating Too Much in anime is a common sight. But why? What's the message there? Why does the food always look so tasty?
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie – 10 – So Cute, So Cool
Hot on the heels of the cultural festival is the athletics festival, and while I was fully ready to throw my hands up and shout “no more festivals”, this…
Oh, So Meta: Excel Saga
I’ve always been interested in things that are self-referential, or meta, if you prefer. This goes back to my college days, where we studied cybernetics. Sure. The Basic…
Oh, So Meta: Lucky Star
There’s just something so addictive about Lucky Star. I don’t know about you, but I can watch it over and over. And I have. And it cracks me…
Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi | Too Calm, too generic.
I'll be honest, I think I was going to enjoy Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi, however, I thought it was a little too calm and…
Oh, So Tropical: The Chosen One
The essence of The Chosen One trope is that there is someone out there in the universe who has been Marked by Fate (or the Gods, or whomever)…
Oh, So Tropical: The Soul Girl
I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at a trio of characters and seen them forming a classic Mind-Body-Soul trio. Sure. How about Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles,…
Oh, So Tropical: The Family Princess
I started out wanting to do a character analysis of Rea Sanka, the main female character (and namesake) of Sankarea, Undying Love, but I ran into a little…
Oh, So Tropical: The Nose Bleed
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: tropes exist because they work. If you’re a writer like I am, tropes is your friend. Here’s a question…
Solo Leveling (Volume 6) – I’d Lost My Cool Too!
Jinwoo continued to scale the Demon’s Castle and even took a young demon noble under his wing as a guide. However, no other demon family was as willing…
30 Cool Cosplay Poses for Men
1. Putting on a hat 2. Adjusting your glasses 3. Stroking your mustache 4. Finger Guns 5. Show off your muscles 6. Adjust your straps 7. Adjusting the…
Cool Cool Bye
When a laserdisc of the 1986 fantasy OVA Cool Cool Bye turned up in a pile of discs the team bought in Japan, I thought it would…
Phoenix, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Maris the Chojo, White Fang, Ai no Kusabi
Oh So Mysterious! The Mystery Blogger Award!
Well Curtis, aka ospreyshire, nominated me for this oh so mysterious award and all I can say is thank you! Check out his post HERE. Honestly it surprises…
Oh, So Tropical: The Princess in Peril
You know that the Princess in Peril is one of the oldest tropes in film, let along anime, right? I mean, seriously, The Perils of Pauline was made…
Oh, So Tropical: Avatar: The Last Airbender
I had a date with a nice lady whose only experience of anime was Avatar: The Last Airbender. “I wonder what you think of it?” she said. Well,…
Oh, So Tropical: The Convenient Stomach Rumble
I’m a writer so I can say this: There are a lot of gimmicks writers use to keep the story moving. For instance, the great crime writer Raymond…
Oh, So Tropical: The Stupid Harem Protagonist
You’ve seen harem shows. Just admit it. Admit that you are powerless, and put yourself in the hands of a higher power. No, wait. That’s for alcohol. But…
Fanart Friday, Too: School Days with Frieren
If there ever was an anime that needed a chibi school days AU, it’s Frieren. Imagine the characters currently and in the past brought together in a non-canonical…
Oh- SO CLOSE. Black Clover Chapter 317 BREAKDOWN
THAT reference comes from everyone’s Favorite whipcracking Flash animated show- Johnny Test. Maybe I’ll do a “Nostalgia Corner” on it someday. But don’t hold me to tha…
Oh, So Tropical: The Look-at-Me Woman
You know what? I think I may have discovered a whole new trope. Okay, let’s start with this fundamental fact: Anime is a medium largely created by Japanese…
Romcom Anime's WILDEST Trope
Romcome anime are filled with some smutty and degenerate tropes, but we think we've found the one that takes the cake. Any trope that appears in Nagatoro, My…
51 Cool Cosplay Poses (for better cosplay photos)
1. Putting on a hat 2. Plotting with a knife 3. Adjusting your glasses 4. Stroking your mustache 5. Finger Guns 6. Weapon over the shoulder 7. Show…
Oh, So Tropical: The He-Can’t-Love-Me Woman
In a lot of ways romance animes are some of the dumbest on the air. I mean, seriously? You have Person A and Person B and everyone knows…
Too Many Shady Players – Law School Ep 6 Review
This is a review for Episode 6 of the Netflix Kdrama series Law School – Starring Actor Kim Bum.
Episode 884: Too Irregular at Losing High School Heroines!
This week on Anime Pulse we got Dishonored DLC, disappointing character development, and another round of Would or Wouldn't. Up first Joseph has updates on Dishonored and FGO,…
Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!, The Irregular at Magic High School
SO MUCH PEAK FOR SPRINGTIME
Everything RJ Writing Ink Wants to watch Spring 2026 Time to put away the snow shovels and cold-weather jackets, people. It’s finally spring. That means going outside to…
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, One Piece, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Fanart Friday, Too: Cake for Waguri
If you’ve yet to read The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, you should! Trust me, it’s the most precious series—and thankfully, Cloverworks is bringing it to life in…
Episode 21 – Too Tired For Novels
We would like to start off by apologizing to Aritzen and Awesomousse. Now that that is out of the way, here is the last podcast episode for the…
You’re Too Young For This Anime
Panty and Stocking are back to show this new generation what real degenerate anime looks like 00:00 Intro 03:03 AMV 04:14 Panty 04:49 Stocking 06:41 Garterbelt 07:02 Why You Should Watch Music Used in…
Ayumu Imazu seems so chill for someone so Obsessed?
Looking for a laid back track to vibe to? Ayumu Imazu serves up a sublimely chill new single, Obsessed. You can listen to him beat himself up for…
Spiraken Manga Review Ep 257: So I’m A Spider, So What? (or That Spider Is Pretty Cool)
In this episode of the Spiraken Manga Review, Xan reviews not just a manga, but also it's light novel counterpart. So, sit back and enjoy as he reviews…