There’s Something About Night Vale
If you are a citizen of the internet – and especially if you are a Tumblr user – you have picked up on the recent hype about Commonplace Books’ year-old podcast, “Welcome to Night Vale.” […]
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Doujinshi: Distinctly Japanese
There are many expressions of fandom that cross genres and cultures – fan fiction, fan art, even cosplay. But there is one form in particular that is distinctly Japanese, both in its origin and in […]
Anime Neverland
One of the challenges of liking anime is having to sometimes admit that you prefer cartoons to more “grown up” forms of entertainment. And sometimes you can defend yourself with a really adult title like […]
Who Got Cultural Studies In My Fandom?
Bendições from Brazil! By the time this post goes live, I will have been in this lovely country for two whole weeks, and will be getting ready to head back Stateside. But being here has […]
Evolution of an Otaku: Conflict of Identity
If you had asked me at the age of fourteen if I considered myself an otaku, I would have raised one snarky eyebrow at you and said, “Obviously.” And it was pretty obvious, too, what […]
Hidden Treasures: Review of a Manga Reference Book
Used bookstores are veritable treasure troves, as I’m sure many Amazing Stories readers will agree. Digging through the shelves and piles of every type of book imaginable is a bibliophile’s dream especially when it doesn’t […]
The Lasting Impact of Miyazaki’s Princess
There are some artists who leave a lasting impression on every life their work touches. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Hayao Miyazaki is one of those artists; I know that his […]
That Fighting Spirit! Yankees, Bad Boys, and Yakuza
Girls just love a bad boy, right? At least that’s what we’re led to believe in Western media. But I’ve never been into the bad boy trope myself (we are momentarily excluding Buffy the Vampire […]
Slice-Of-Life and the Open Ending
I have noticed a trend in newer anime in the last few months: The completely open-ended conclusion. To be fair, anime stories have always had a different flavor to their endings than Western cartoons, in […]
The Trouble With Definitions; or, Not All Anime Fans Watch Hentai
[Author’s Note: The following post discusses hentai, which is a type of animated pornography. No lewd images are present; however, there is a link to an erotic woodblock print. The author asks that readers use […]
East vs. West: Comic Book Showdown
Though my position here, such as it is, is that of “anime blogger,” I think that my real interest in media from the Land of the Rising Sun is comic books, otherwise known as manga. […]
The Real Manga Blues: A “Me and the Devil Blues” Review
Of all the potential stories to succeed phenomenally in manga form, not many people expect a story centering around blues music in the deep American South to qualify. Even less likely is a story about […]
Hayao Miyazaki and Epic Fantasy
Since taking on this blogging position, I have been struggling to find works that would appeal to the audience that Amazing Stories has, particularly those who are interested in fantasy. I would categorize a large […]
Art in Action: A Bakuman Review
I spend a lot of time lately complaining about the state of anime and the series that have been created within the last five or so years. In the course of this tirade, shounen manga […]
The Young Animators’ Project, and What We Can Hope For
It has recently been brought to my attention that every year, the Japanese government pays a large sum of money to a handful of animation studios so that those studios will each produce a half-hour […]
Acceptance or Exploitation?
Author’s Note: The following post will discuss depictions of sexuality in media. As such, content may not be acceptable for young children. Please read responsibly. In light of Zach’s recent post, I’ve decided to finally […]
The Future of Manga Looks Dire
I tend to avoid bookstores these days – not because I’m opposed to them in any way; quite to the contrary, I have a ravenous book-owning addiction, and I prefer to remove temptation when possible. […]
Anime As An Art Form
One of the greatest things that anime ever did for me was give me the desire to create. I was a really bookish kid, and the idea of writing had always been pretty appealing to […]
It’s Pretty – and Deadly: Horror Animanga
[Author’s warning: the following post contains images with some violent and/or graphic themes. Please proceed with caution.] Any of my friends could tell you how much I hate horror movies. Whether it’s the hack-and-slash or […]
Punk Rock Queen: A Nana Review
[Image from animedepot.net. Nana belongs to Ai Yazawa and Shueisha.] I would like to come forward with a confession: throughout most of college, I largely had to put my anime love on hiatus – not […]
Debunking Lolita Fashion and the American Otaku Myth
[Author’s Note: This article deals with defining the differences between Lolita fashion and the “lolita complex.” As such, there is some discussion of sexuality and pedophilia, which may not be appropriate for children under a […]
Cat Heaven: Neko-sama in Animanga
There is a small fishing island in Japan, Tashirojima, which has been dubbed “cat heaven” because of the phenomenal amount of stray cats living there – there are more cats than people! It sounds, to […]
Adding the Human Element: An Interview With Juliet
All right, so I’ve given you all some abstract thoughts about the anime world, and I’ve even thrown in a review. But I think it’s fair to say that one of the most interesting things […]
Jazz and Drama: A Kids on the Slope Review
Even casual fans of anime have heard of Cowboy Bebop, the jazziest, classiest, most sophisticated space opera anime to ever be created (whoops, my bias is showing). Bebop’s director, Shinichiro Watanabe, and musical composter, Yoko […]
In Fear Of Dub: How Should You Watch Your Anime?
Ever since foreign film and television have become popular in the English-speaking world (and title cards were a thing of the past, of course), there has been the great debate over whether subtitles or dubbed-over […]
Anime Mondays with Morgana! An Introduction
Happy Monday, everybody! I’m very excited to be joining the Amazing Stories Magazine blogging staff. Every week, I’ll be posting something new, mostly focusing on anime! Anime is an interesting and widespread topic, and I […]
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