Maybe it's a combination of various things I've read and seen lately, but I've realized some other things that bother me about certain animanga series aside from the "suddenly pulling ever more ginormous superpowers out of their asses" thing.

Reading the most recent volume of D.Gray-man out from Tokyopop, volume 12, had the latest version of a ( Read more... )

My love for Yozak has enabled me to realize a template of a character type that tends to make me happy: the snarky, practical, occasionally ruthless, somewhat shady working class-seeming person who gets things done and occasionally plays devil's advocate while the other folks are talking about their principles and airy plans ( Read more... )

I’ve been giving more thought to my love of side characters and how I often prefer them over the main characters. I think it might not just be because they’re often snarkier and quirkier and have a more complex morality; I think it may also be that they often have a history and mystery ( Read more... )

My mind goes to strange places sometimes. Recently it’s been dwelling on a fantasy series I hadn’t read in years.

Janet Morris’ Tempus stories started in Thieves’ World, one of those jam anthology series that had been so prevalent in the ‘80s. The characters in her short stories here were racist, misogynist mercenaries. Tempus is an avatar of the ( Read more... )

I’ve given some more thought to my “On the Outside Looking In” and realized that I do have some female characters on my “characters at the edges I’m drawn to,” I just had to dig a bit deeper. (Talking to cadetdru helped me crystallize what I was actually thinking.) The problem, I think, is that women in fiction are often not there as personalities. They’re ( Read more... )

So there I was watching Zetsuai: 1989 and marveling at the parade of overwrought slash chestnuts, yet a part of me was still asking, "Who's the kid who seems to be Koji's minder/friend/scold?" I'm forever drawn to the characters on the edge of the stories, the ones authors then go on to spend very little time with, never explain, or mistreat badly ( Read more... )

I keep giving Tru Calling a chance to hook me, mostly because I'm fond of her brother, but it keeps failing. Tru herself really annoys me. Something about the character just grates. And so many shots seemed to be designed to show off Eliza Dushku's wet-lipsticked, dewy lips. The junkie sister bores me. I should like Davis, since I enjoy eccentric ( Read more... )

Directly inspired by a comment fyrdrakken made to one of my LiveJournal posts, I'm asking you what your ur-fandom crush, your perfect crush character, is ( Read more... )

In recent years my TV-watching has dropped to the point where I only watch a very few favored shows and pretty much skip the summer re-runs entirely. For example, as well-written as Robbery Homicide Division's plots are, the lack of any through-lines for the characters and continuity have made it so I don't feel the need to watch every week to see ( Read more... )

I've been trying to find the time to write this entry for over a month, so it may strike some of you as really old news.

I was heartbroken when Witchblade was cancelled, especially considering the Gabriel-related cliffhanger ending of the season two finale, but I have to admit that the writing staff lost its way during season two.

( spoilers for the whole series )