Anime Watcher / Manga Reader

Four penguins.  Two high school boys.  One female stalker.  One female stage actress. One slingshot.  An uncountable amount of WTF?  What do they all have in common?  This anime.  It's Penguindrum. Penguindrum is a bizarre and tragic anime.  There's a lot going on and you won't be able to piece anything together early on.  A girl drops dead, penguins stalk teenagers, and the girl comes back to life after putting on a hat that looks like a penguin.  Then, you have another teenager stalking a teacher, who herself is being stalked by the teenagers using the penguins that were stalking them before to help.  Indeed, you will be saying WTF until later in the first half of the series. WTF is this?  You'll have to watch to find out. As you can surmise, there is a lot of stuff going on.  A lot of twists, a lot of turns, and even a little murder.  There are a lot of characters, each just a broken and fucked up as the last.  You'll get to follow each of them as yo

You're trapped in a world full of skyscrapers, bridges, and mask-wearing killers.  The stairways are all blocked off.  The only way down is to jump off the nearest rooftop and become a splat on the sidewalk.  What do you do?  This is High-Rise Invasion. Yuri Honjo is the hapless protagonist of this story.  She was on her way to school when she somehow wound up in this skyscraper world.  The first thing she sees up arriving is a psychopath having sliced a kid's head in half.  Not wanting to wind up like that, she runs. Our protagonist, Yuri Honjo. This is when she discovers she's in a world of skyscrapers with no stairs leading to the ground.  This is also when we discover she is scared of heights.  We also discover (through Yuri's observations) that the killers WILL kill you...unless they think you're going to jump and plummet to your death.  Why?  Just because. Yuri is not alone in this world.  Besides her and the killers, there are also a number of

Let's say you punch out an art critic.  What do you do?  Do you apologize?  Or do you go to an island full of hicks to find yourself?  This is Barakamon. Our protagonist, Seishu Handa is a talented calligrapher with many awards and interviews under his belt.  Then, one art critic gives him his work is generic.  Well Sei wasn't going to let that slide, giving him a big, meaty fist in return. Sei is an alright guy, but... ...DON'T criticize his calligraphy. The result is Sei gets sent to an island for some old fashioned country living.  This change of scenery isn't just meant as a vacation.  It's so he can get inspired to create calligraphy that feels less generic. His living situation is pretty difficult.  He'll have to overcome obstacles too great for any man.  Old-school toilets, rats, psychotic nurses, butt pokes, and children will challenge Sei every step of the way.  In other words, there's nothing too urgent going on. Is this toi

He's a city boy.  He's flimsy.  He's a scaredy cat.  He's...apparently a darned good calligrapher.  It's Seishu Handa of Barakamon and its prequel, Handa-Kun. Seishu Handa is the main character of both Barakamon and Handa-Kun.  He is a calligrapher who gets exiled to a backwater island by his father after punching out an art critic.  He's not a bad guy or anything.  Just a little sensitive. Who says men don't cry. He scares easily. And he's quick to anger. Goodbye, voice recorder. He gets nervous just as quickly. He's nervous he lost his pupils. Either way, he'll lash out. That'll come out with a little bleach...not. Then become a ball of fear shortly afterward. He must be on some GOOD stuff. Yet, he can be a little arrogant at times. A real man will brag to kids about his calligraphy skills. He has good qualities, though.  While he's flimsy, he still has some toughness about him.