Over at Junkee I’ve written about Making a Murderer, examining how the series manipulates viewers and how, ultimately, those manipulations are in service of a good cause – reinforcing the presumption of innocence. Generally, this is where I’d conclude a repost here on ccpopculture; a quick gesture to the piece which should theoretically speak for…
It took me until the third episode of Ghost in the Shell: Arise (the first instalment of which I reviewed precisely one year ago) to realise that this was a prequel, rather than an alternate universe take à la GITS:SAC. That’s as much a reflection of my obliviousness as it is Arise’s similarities to its…
Over at Junkee, I explained how Please Like Me has established itself as the best television show of 2015 by exploiting the inherent sadness of sitcom stasis. Read the piece here.
Space Dandy’s second season keeps pretty well to the tone of season one – reviewed here – which means plenty of restlessly-creative, energetically-absurd space nonsense revolving around the most narcissistic, impressively-coiffed man in the universe. If you dug the silliness of season one, you’ll be equally appreciative of this, though it’s worth noting there’s slightly…
So I Can’t Play H! is a fanservice anime. Or maybe the fanservice anime, given how shamelessly it’s calibrated to accommodate animated depictions of the naked female form. Here’s its premise: a slender Grim Reaper named Lisara (Aya Endo) strikes a deal with perverted high-schooler Ryosuke (Hiro Shimono), wherein he will supply her with ‘energy’ that…
Thanks to Icon Film Distribution, ccpopculture has 2 John Malkovich prize packs to give away, including Disgrace, RED, Warm Bodies and new pirate series Crossbones, out on Australian DVD on Wednesday December 9th. “One icon stars as another when Hollywood legend, John Malkovich plays Edward Teach, better known as the barbarous pirate Blackbeard in the NBC series, Crossbones. It is 1729 and on…
Writing about Adventure Time’s fourth season last year, I described it as both “fantastic and slightly disappointing” due to its reluctance to continue to expand creatively. But if season four maintained the level of quality and creativity of its prior season, season five ups the game by embracing the show’s potential for melancholy and complexity…
I’m more of anime consumer than aficionado – or ‘otaku’, if you prefer – so I don’t pay a lot of attention to anime auteurs, the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers that shape the animation I enjoy (give or take a Miyazaki or Anno, naturally). So it wasn’t until about halfway through Michiko & Hatchin that…
Despite my storied history of nerdy pursuits, I’ve never really been a comic book reader. I’ve read some of the canon titles – you know, Watchmen, Kingdom Come, and, um, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics? – but it’s only recently that I’ve begun to educate myself in the medium, picking up some discount trades…
“It’s stupid to stake your life on table tennis. I just don’t get it. It’s revolting.” So says Makoto “Smile” Tsukimoto in episode three of Ping Pong, an anime about people staking their lives on table tennis. As this quote might suggest – and as its unconventional animation confirms – Ping Pong isn’t the sort…
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