Category: Reviews

Bonus Round – An Encore Performance

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We return to the Kaleido stage in this episode of the Bonus Round on Anime3000 in which we talk about the second season of Kaleido Star and the accompanying OVAs. In season 1, Sora is able to perform the Legendary Great Maneuver with Layla and save the Kaleido Stage. In season 2, dubbed “New Wings” we find that due to her injury Layla has retired from the circus and become a full-time actress. Now Sora must find her own way on the stage but she is unsure of what direction to head in. A rival by the name of May Wong and the icy perfectionist Leon Oswald join the troop and bring further complications. Does Sora have what it takes to be a true Kaleido Star? Then it’s Extra Stage and Legend of Phoenix, OVAs about Rosetta Passel and Layla Hamilton respectively. As a special bonus we have a shocking in-depth expose about May Wong at the beginning of the review.

Anime3000 – Bonus Round – Kaleido Star Season 2 + OVAs

Fate/Zero TV #001: This Kirei Kotomine Seems Like a Trustworthy Chap

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This is not a review. If you want an objective review you can check out ANN or any of several dozen episodic bloggers. This is a love letter to Fate/Zero. I am sure I will complain about one or two things, as is the nature of picky fans, but I’m mostly here to sit back and raise a glass to a series I love. So if you are here to celebrate the prequel to Fate/Stay Night or maybe try to make heads of tails of the fandom pull up a chair and join the celebration. Just remember that most of these people we meet in this series don’t show up in Fate/Stay Night. And it is not because they all decided to run a wacky pizza parlor after the events of Fate/Zero and are too busy getting into hijinks to take part in the 5th Holy Grail war.

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Manga of the Month: Saint Young Men

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Saint Young Men (聖☆おにいさん) by Hikaru Nakamura

Sometimes comedy that has gone completely off the map is the best comedy of all. Saint Young Men follows the misadventures of Jesus and Buddha who have come to Japan and have taken an apartment to get away from their boring lives. If that doesn’t sound like a bizarre one-shot webcomic the internet would make up, then you aren’t well versed enough.

Saint Young Men is absurdist at full-throtle though when looking at manga-ka Hikaru Nakamura’s work on Arakawa Under the Bridge, one knows she’s had a lot of practice. Jesus and Buddha are experiencing the modern world in a new way and they are both kind of spazes for obvious reasons. They also have an odd couple relationship that gets them angry with each other and living together. Exploring the outside world is just as entertaining like when Buddha melodramatically laments that everyone is obsessed with his “fat period” when seeing all the statues about or the fact that when Jesus gets upset his stigmata acts up. This story pushes the limits of comedy combined with religion and the insignificance that worship can play in modern society.

So now I’ve got two wishes, 1) for this to be licensed of course and 2) for it to be turned into a delightful anime.