In other news: Death Note is brilliant.

After the real turning point in the series – and if you’ve seen it, you know what it is – it’s utter tripe. Complete shite. I couldn’t read more than a few volumes after that, and considering it’s only a few volumes long after the middle bit… well, that says a lot.

You see, the need to create new and interesting material on an ongoing basis can be taxing. If you can’t manage to keep up the pace of the new content, you might find it easier going to space out the actual content, and then add new information at a pace you can manage as a writer.

It’s because of the serial nature of the entertainment. Trying to write something new and exciting week after week until the end of time is a lot to ask, so it’s often a necessity to spend an episode either side of a proper development just reiterating, having the characters react to it and anticipate the next thing.

You know, because of the episodic nature of these shows. Being serial entertainment programmes. AM I HAMMERING THIS JOKE IN HARD ENOUGH.

Also I’ve seen Akira twice and don’t like it so there.

The writers hoping that the audience are so invested in the characaters they have created that people will just keep watching, like some comfort blanket.

Manga and anime, what geeks think are passable but what programes like Eastenders and Coronation street have been doing for decades. After Akira and Ghost in the Shell, it’s all downhill.

Look, I don’t mind anime or manga. Some of it is actually good, like Death Note. Unfortunately like with most things, most anime and manga are terrible.

Now that you have admitted to liking at least one series from Japan, be prepared for a swarm of anime fanatics descending upon your blog, chanting “one of us, one of us”.

Anime and Manga were okay, until they were ruined by the fanatics who give it a very bad name.

I’d second recommendations of both ‘Code Geass’ (if you like scheme/counterscheme action, and don’t mind some occasional silliness) and ‘Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex’ (if you like intellectualism and buddy-cop-show-esque crime-fighting intertwined with massive conspiracies).

Here is a summary as to why:
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs32/f/2008/210/1/5/154f95932d6c0788e610fcb1bad045a4.jpg

Many parallels could be drawn between the two series.
Code Geass ends up being slightly less clever, as the protagonist does not have a single brilliant enemy. There are many battles of wits, but spread over more people.

But Code Geass does have Mecha.

If you’re going through an anime phase Tom, I’d strongly recommend Ghost in the Shell (the series) and Cowboy Bebop. GitS should be watched subbed, but Cowboy Bebop’s dub is arguably better than its sub.

You are going to like this.

…also worth noting that it’s on Hulu, which is where I watched it. A bit cheaper than the box set, a bit classier than a torrent. If anyone here feels inspired to watch the series, Hulu would be my recommendation.

(Oh – also, I very much enjoy your second screengrab. Excellent taste.)

I’ll give this a try.

There’s also a deeply disturbing and incongruous foot massage scene around episode 23 or so.

They certainly go down amongst my favourites and tend to appear on film4 fairly often so worth watching out for.