Katanagatari

Last year I was looking around for some decent anime to watch, and I stumbled across a new series called Katanagatari. It's description was simple enough: a martial artist joins a tactical expert in her quest to recover 12 exceptional swords with unique qualities. A simple, straightforward action series, I thought. Those can be fun every now and again, and the artwork seemed decent, so I checked it out. And it was pretty much what I expected. At first.

The series has recently ended, and what a strange journey it became. Not only was there action and a little light comedy, but there was real depth to it too. It was challenging, at times heartbreaking, and on several occasions I was stunned by complete reversals of what I thought I was in for.

I'll write up a review of this series eventually. For the time being: find Katanagatari and watch it. It has been one of the most wonderfully surprising series in anime of the last couple of years, as far as my opinion goes. I'll be back later to finish my Scott Pilgrim review. Until then, everybody.

Adaptation Brawl: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (movie)

It's an epic of epic epicness. And did we mention that it's epic?

The Return of the Karl

Last month, I took the month off from blogging in order to participate in National Novel Writing month. And, after nearly 30 days of intense effort in between working and seeking a more permanent job, I earned this incredible prize:

The novel I wrote was pure crap, but it was the word count that mattered and I had that. At the least, I did get to work in references to Existentialist philosophers and pogs. And I at one point described a hypothetical t-shirt bearing the words "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance", and I mention this because I know this shirt must really exist, and I fucking want it. Anyone who knows where to find it, leave me a comment.

Anyhow, I'll have a new review up shortly, hopefully. I'm going to take a close look at perhaps my favorite film of the past year: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Be prepared for epic, folks.

Anime Retrospect: Tenchi Muyo! Part 3

Tenchi faces his toughest challenge yet: fighting for screen time against a bunch of cute girls.

Anime Retrospect: Tenchi Muyo! Part 2

With Kagato vanquished, all Tenchi wants is to go back to living an ordinary life with his mad scientist, space pirate, and magic princess friends, just like everyone else.

Citizen Kane

Best movie in the history of film, or just the world's longest sled commercial?

Anime Retrospect: Tenchi Muyo! Part One

 A look back to the first anime I ever watched, in the hopes of answering the age-old question: just how pimp is Tenchi Masaki?

Futurama on ComCen

Is the future still something to look forward to? Or is it best left in the past?

Satoshi Kon Tribute: Perfect Blue

The legacy of one of our era's most brilliant filmmakers: kicking your sense of sanity in the balls.

Intro Post

Hi everyone. Karl here. I'm going to try out this whole "blogging" thing and see if I like it. I've found that I often have things to say about things. This seems like a good place for that kind of noncommittal sense of opinion.

The purpose of this blog is to do battle with that old nemesis of mine: tedium. There is far too much tedium in the world. Writers and artists produce tedious works, public figures repeat tedious talking points, the masses of the world continue to live on in tedious ignorance. This is where I'll decry all of that tedium, and praise those who manage to accomplish something unique and admirable.

First actual post to come soon.