This article discusses Norman only as he appears in the Pokemon games, not in his anime or manga iterations. November 21st marked the one-year anniversary of the 3DS remakes of Pokemon’s third generation of games. After years of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (RSE) fans lamenting the unlikelihood of re-releases, the announcement of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS)…
Manga to (Yo-Kai) Watch Out For
Whether you’re a fan of video games, television, or comics, odds are you’ve heard buzz surrounding Yo-Kai Watch, the latest Japanese franchise to take off around the globe. At the very least, you’ve probably seen some clickbait-y links hailing it as “the next Pokémon.” Curious about the next generation of mon adventures? Desensitized to the…
Music Culture Composes The World Ends with You
Calling…you hear the calling… 2007’s The World Ends with You gave Nintendo DS owners a lot to talk about. It follows Neku Sakuraba, an anti-social teen who dislikes trying to understand other people, as he wakes up in the Shibuya scramble crossing with no memory of how he got there. Barriers keep him trapped in…
“Stronger Together” – 4 Takes on CBS’ Supergirl
Even though only two episodes of CBS’ Supergirl have aired so far, it’s quickly become a favorite new show for many of us. Too many for just one person to write and reflect on. But as we just learned this past week–the motto of the House of El, as represented by the iconic “S,” is…
5 Writers Whose Work Would Inspire Great Video Games
The indie video game community has been turning to literature for its inspiration, and in particular, the works of Haruki Murakami. Bitz Byterz is currently running a kickstarter to fund Memoranda, a 2D point-and-click adventure inspired by Murakami’s short stories. Ackk Studios is also working on a Murakami-themed title, YIIK: A Postmodern RPG, in the…
Dead But Not Forgotten: Our Favourite Moments of Death in Video Games
What does death mean when it’s not permanent? Can it still make you cry if your character regenerates? Can it be meaningful? Or is it necessarily just an annoyance, a product of “failing” at gaming? In games “The End” is hardly ever true. It’s just “The End” of that attempt, but your character will resurrect…
A Gender-bent Bella: Damsel No More in Meyer’s Life and Death?
October 6th was already a big day for middle grade and young adult lit, from the illustrated re-release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to Magnus Chase, Simon and Baz, and the rest (of us who just live here). Then Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Stephenie Meyer decided to Beyoncé the market…
Classic Anime that Aren’t For Me: What IS the Anime Canon?
What comes to mind when I mention “classic anime” or “anime canon”? What kinds of films are included in the “anime canon”? Paige Sammartino: In terms of films, Studio Ghibli is the first thing that comes to mind, particularly Princess Mononoke. Films like Akira and Ghost in the Shell are not only great on their…
Self-Identity and Self-Confidence: Lessons Learned from a Foolish Replica
SPOILER WARNING: This essay contains spoilers for the entirety of Tales of the Abyss. Since 1995, one of the most iconic RPG franchises in Japan—and, increasingly, with western audiences—is the Tales series. Each installment boasts high fantasy settings that dabble in magitech, references (if in-name-only) to mythologies from around the globe, and parties made up…
Books that Shaped Me: Let the Right One In
In 2009, vampires were so in that everyone was sick of them, and I was a freshman in college. I was a defensive bandwagon-jumper, reading vampire novels incessantly while assuring everyone that I only read the good ones. A course on monsters across media increased my interest—and raised the bar of the quality of vampire…
Cyborg Boots Up for Solo Title
Cyborg #1 David F. Walker (writer), Ivan Reis (penciller), Joe Prado (inker), Adriano Lucas (colorist), Rob Leigh (letterer) DC Comics July 22, 2015 Plenty of fans will recognize DC’s Cyborg from the Cartoon Network Teen Titans series from the 2000s. As a comic book hero, he’s been around since 1980, a member of Teen Titans and eventually…