Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Anime)

The ground tread by Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is well-worn. Its original form, a serialized comic, began in 1986 at the height of Fist of the North Star’s popularity, a few years before Dragon Ball Z would codify the tropes and structure of the teenage-boy action story. Jojo falls into many of these tropes, especially in its first arc. In its structure and in much of its characters, it gives the appearance of yet another standard shonen action show. But Jojo pushes these tropes to amazing heights, through its unique style, clever writing, and balls-to-the-wall daring. Jojo, like Fist of the North Star, has few restraints, but it works with intelligence and care. It is brute force applied by the hands of a master artisan. David Production’s Jojo anime reflects this as well as it can, and it’s by far the truest adaptation yet. Continue reading →

From Heaven to Hell: Shin Megami Tensei

[Warning: this article spoils the entirety of Shin Megami Tensei 1. If you are new to the series or looking for an overview of the series as a whole, read this before this specific piece. It'll help introduce you to the franchise's overarching concepts before seeing their original interpretations as presented in Shin Megami Tensei 1.]

“By these names then, and by all the other holy names of God before whom no man can stand and live, and which names the armies of the demons fear, tremble at, and shudder; we conjure ye, we potently exorcise and command ye, conjuring ye in addition by the terrible and tremendous paths of God and by his holy habitation wherein he reigneth and commandeth unto the eternal ages. Amen.” – The Key of Solomon, Chapter VI, translated by S. Liddell MacGregor Mathers

Shin Megami Tensei is a bit of an odd duck in regards to the JRPG genre. Unlike its contemporaries (Final Fantasy V, Dragon Quest V, Romancing SaGa, Lunar: The Silver Star), it isn’t a game defined by its combat and character building nor an intricate, detailed narrative. Outside of the demon collecting, it’s a standard Wizardry-style JRPG, and the plot isn’t intrusive nor the writing especially deep. Very little about it couldn’t have been done on the previous generation of hardware. What makes Shin Megami Tensei notable is its atmosphere; the bleakness hanging over its head and the dreamlike trance enveloping the world. This tone turns what would have been a bland post-apocalyptic hero’s journey into something much more: a journey within the self, where the prize is true happiness and man is beset from all sides by the destructive facets of his mind. This is a game about enlightenment. Continue reading →

Review: Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass is a grand example of the wrong way to merge genres. It wants to be a large-scale political drama, an intimate character drama, and a raw action show, while throwing as many allusions at the audience that can be fit in the script. In the end, it’s an inconsistent mess loaded down with pretensions of its authors. Psycho-Pass had a lot of potential in its early days, but it builds and builds until it collapses beneath the weight of its plot holes, unrealized character development, and bland twists. Continue reading →

The Stereogram

Games. Comics. Animation. Y'know, the cool stuff.

Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Anime)

From Heaven to Hell: Shin Megami Tensei

Review: Psycho-Pass