Self-quarantine and social distancing have been a wild ride. Some days I feel like I’m on top of the fucking world and on others, I sort of just want to build a fort in the corner of my bedroom or giant ass closet and hibernate until the ugliness of the world finally goes away. Since…
Meg: The Graphic Novel by J.S. Earls is a science-fiction, stand-alone comic adaptation of the original novel authored by Steve Alten. The story follows deep-sea submersible pilot turned marine palaeontologist, Jonas Taylor, as he’s forced to return to his previous occupation when the prehistoric, long believed to be extinct shark, the megalodon, is unleashed from…
Self-quarantine has been going far better for me this past week than the previous one. Now that I’ve had some time to accept that we’re in it for the long haul, it made me acquire a bit o’ faith that this also won’t last forever. I need to be hopeful if I am to survive…
Your Name. (君の名は。) is a 2016 romance fantasy anime film that was written and directed by esteemed filmmaker, Makoto Shinkai, and produced by CoMix Wave Films. The film revolves around Taki and Mitsuha, two young teens who live in very different parts of the country. Taki is a Tokyoite, while Mitsuha resides in a small…
9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek is a fantasy hidden object game that was developed by a Polish company, Tap It Games, and published by Artifex Mundi. It’s also the first volume in the 9 Clues duology series. For folx who may be unfamiliar with the term, Hidden Object (HO) refers to a brand…
Little Miss Sumo is a British-Japanese, Netflix Original short documentary about female sumō wrestler, Hiyori Kon. It released in 2018 and can be seen in both English and Japanese. The documentary was shot in Japan and Taiwan. Living with an aficionado of wrestling, I have come to appreciate the sport quite a bit and sumō…
Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an #OwnVoices Latinx novel that takes place in the late 1970s and is about a young girl named Viridiana who is hired to be a translator for three Americans that are visiting Baja California. When one of them turns up dead, she’s caught in a web of deceit where…
The world fucking sucks right now. When I look outside and see the barren streets, I feel like I’m in a post-apocalyptic setting straight out of one of them book things I love to keep my nose in. Schools, jobs, and everything else have gone on lock-down to try and contain the chaos of COVID-19.…
Dedicated to Madame Gabs. Welcome to my first OWLS post for 2020! I couldn’t think of a more perfect topic to kick off my return to OWLS than with the subject of Devotion. Devotion is a very interesting concept. The meaning behind this word can change with everyone to various degrees. For some it’s showing…
The Spring 2020 simulcast season is just around the corner, which is mind-blowing. I feel like Winter zipped on by like Takumi Fujiwara in a full-powered AE86 tofu drift. While not emotionally prepared for some of the current shows to come to an end, as they’ve been helping to bring me comfort during this time…
Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン) is an adventure, science-fiction anime adaptation of the original light novel series written by Reki Kawahara with artwork from abec. The first season aired in Summer 2012 with twenty-five episodes. It was produced by A-1 Pictures with direction from Tomohiko Itō (Occult Academy, Silver Spoon, Erased). I remember watching it during…
Watching people train, specifically in anime, is a whole lot of fun to me. It’s one of the main reasons I absolutely fucking love shōnen serials, such as Hunter x Hunter and even Naruto. Working hard to accomplish something is just validating to watch. I think one of the reasons I love it so much…
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman is a survival horror comic series that follows a guy who awakes from a coma to discover that the world has basically turned into a living Hell of zombies. Together with his family and a few other survivors, they go on the run to stay alive as long as…
It’s a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, & Other Jewish Stories edited by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman is an #OwnVoices YA anthology of short stories that explore many themes and experiences relating to Jewish identities. I received an ARC (Advanced Reader’s Copy) of this book last summer, when I first read it, and then I…
BPS: Battle Programmer Shirase (BPS バトルプログラマーシラセ) is a comedy, science-fiction series about a guy named Akira Shirase who’s a freelance computer programmer that takes on jobs in exchange for goods, usually rare computer parts. Because he’s absolutely brilliant, he’s contacted often by many individuals to complete various hacking and security related tasks. The very first…