An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Seasonal Selection – Sabikui Bisco Episode 10

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a masterpiece. The movie more or less launched Studio Ghibli (since that’s what most of the team involved with it went onto become), and while it is quite strong, the Manga is leaps and bounds above even that, standing as one of the fictions I most absolutely respect. What I’m saying, in context, is that if you’re going to flagrantly steal from somewhere, you could do a whole lot worse than Sabikui Bisco lifting from Nausicaa.

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Isekai & Invention – Knights & Magic Spoiler Review

Without correcting for overall quality or removing material from the context of its genre, I can safely say that, in some ways, Knights & Magic is the most fascinating fantasy isekai show I’ve seen. This is not because of any sort of deep story or well-rounded character like Rising of the Shield Hero nor clever comedy and a deconstruction of the normal expectations like KonoSuba. Rather, it’s because this show is a broad-scale biopic of a historical figure in a fantasy universe that wears the skin of a fantasy isekai while telling its story in a completely different way. Is it a good thing? That remains to be seen, but it is a thing worth remarking on, so here we are.

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