An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

To all the Cyberpunks – Armitage III Spoiler Review (OVAs + Dual Matrix)

Oh, classic Cyberpunk, how I’ve missed you. I might be more partial to more optimistic sci-fi, in part because it’s so rare, but there’s just something absolutely exquisite about the occasional piece of media willing to display some adroitly grim and rebellious retro-future stylings – dark shadows, menacing greebles, body horror, bizarre fashion, fanservice, and of course a good slathering of ye olde ultra-violence.

Armitage III is determined to deliver.

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The Miko and the Fox – Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods Spoiler Review

Gingitsune, like last week’s entry of Kamichu!, is a slice-of-life show focused on a high-school girl, which is sometimes described as “Shinto propaganda”. In specific, this one is focused on Makoto Saeki, currently the shrine maiden of a modest Inari shrine that’s been around since the Edo period, and the heir to the shrine-keeping family’s ability to see the heralds of the Gods. In her case, the Herald that lives at the shrine is Gintarou, a fox spirit who loves mikans and is often described as “lazy”. This is their story.

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Miko and God – Kamichu! Spoiler Review

So, I will admit that this one leans a little more heavily on the divine element, what with the characters most recognizable as shrine maidens being in the friend and helper role, but when you look up shows with miko characters and Shinto vibes, Kamichu! (the title is excited) tends to come highly recommended.

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Endangered Miko – RDG: Red Data Girl Spoiler Review

Well, it’s still Miko May, so here’s the pitch for this one: it stars a girl who has been raised at a shrine deep in the mountains. She wants to be normal, but unfortunately for that wish, she may well be the vessel for a god.

Oh, and this is also a school romance.

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Miko Club – Shrine of the Morning Mist Spoiler Review

Well, it’s that time of year… or it would be, but I’m going to do things slightly differently. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first installment of Miko May! Yeah, when I said back in my review of Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister that I wanted to see more shows that put miko characters in the spotlight, there was an extent to which that was foreshadowing. At the very least I knew I was going to be taking on the arguable antecedent of the Magical Girl this year, rather than Magical Girls themselves.

As to Shrine of the Morning Mist itself (Asagiri no Miko in untranslated title, which is a little different), I suppose I’d better introduce it in its own right. What we have here is what seems like a very classical 2002 action-romcom, one of the pre-Shana examples of the urban fantasy lineage. The differences? This one has half-length episodes (Similar to Neo Ranga, which is from a somewhat similar era come to think of it) and five girls training as shrine maidens to be our action heroes.

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