Category: Reviews

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA 2wei! #005: Bath Time Fun for Everyone

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\hisui_icon_4040 Before we begin I would like to mention to anyone attending Otakon that I will be running a panel about the themes of Fate/Stay Night on Saturday. The panel is called “The Measure of a Man. The Nature of a Hero: A Fate/Stay Night Panel (18+)” and it will be in panel room 6 at 1 AM. I have a feeling that most of the people reading this post before the panel takes place will not be people attending Otakon but I figured it was worth a shot. If nothing else I will give a little report on how the panel went next week in this same space.

But enough shameless plugging, let’s get to the fact of the matter: nakedness. There is quite a bit of nakedness. Some of it is quite impressive. Some of it is quite BL. The rest of it is sort of creepy. They even manage to sneak in some story. But mostly near the end. Because that is how 2wei! rolls.

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Manga of the Month: The Heroic Legend of Arslan

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The Heroic Legend of Arslan (アルスラーン戦記)
by Hiromu Arakawa and Yoshiki Tanaka

narutaki_icon_4040 Finally, the first volume is coming out in print in August! So it is a perfect time to talk up this epic fantasy from the creator of Full Metal Alchemist, based on the novel series from the author of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Young Prince Arslan, adept with a sword but more of a thinker, is the son of an undefeated warrior king. The king and queen look upon their son with coldness and disappointment. But when the country is overtaken by a neighboring theocracy after a disastrous battle, everyone’s fate is in Arslan’s hands as he and a few loyal retainers plot to retake their homeland.

Much like in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, the rivals in this series are more of tacticians than soldiers. And much like LotGH there is a huge cast of fascinating characters, many more bad-ass than the next.

The story is based in part on Persian myth which gives a twist on the typical fantasy setting we’re used to seeing.

Ms. Arakawa’s precision in action and anatomy really shines in this series. From grandiose, and graphic, battle scenes to the horses character’s ride, her artwork is perfectly suited to pages of intrigue and war.

Politics and action blend together in Heroic Legend of Arslan to create a sweeping fantasy everyone should be reading.

~ kate

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA 2wei! #004: The Miracle, the Happenstance, and the Inevitable

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hisui_icon_4040 I think that the creators of Fate/kaleid know that I am under a time crunch due to Otakon being just around the corner and decided to make this an easy breezy episode to write about. They really want our Kunihiko Ikuhara panel to go well. Kate and I thank them for that.

In fact the hardest part was thinking of what to talk about before the episode review itself. Thankfully the very meta topic of this writers block about the episode being more insubstantial than most was the answer. Even the fan service was turned down a degree. There is A LOT of bloomer service in this episode with accompanying camera angles to remind you of that fact. When compared to the last three episodes this episodes was a chaste a young couple in the same room with their parents.

Speaking of Otakon, if you are attending this year I will mention that I am doing a panel on the themes of Fate/Stay Night. It should be fun and the slides will be much nicer than the last time I ran it thanks to the artistic skills of my roommate. When the schedule comes out all the details will be posted on the blog so look for it. I hope to see most of you there!
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