‘Vamp’ is such an odd word, owing to the differing meanings. It can mean, to wit:

1. the part of a shoe or boot upper covering especially the forepart of the foot, or
2. a short introductory musical passage often repeated several times before a solo, or
3. to piece something old with something new, or
4. a flirtatious woman

The word is derived from Anglo-French, alteration of avanpié, from avant- fore- + pié foot, but it can also be shorthand for vampire. In fact, the first vamp, silent movie star Theda Bara, was a caliber of vampire, as she sucked out men’s souls. (more…)

Holy guacamole! I knew that the Japanese people were strange, but the concept for this one would be a tough sell in anyone’s book. How it flew under the radar (for me) for so long can only be attributed to sheer luck. This is “Akikan” (“Empty Can!), where your fantasies are a mere sip away. (more…)

Another long-time staple of story-telling involves a journey. Not merely a journey of distance, but one of emotional growth or of physical prowess or even of understanding your place in the cosmos. And I’m not talking about a trip to the local Starbucks for a $3 Pumpkin Spice latte or even all that walking to hatch an egg for ‘Pokemon Go.’ I am talking time and space and voyages and struggles and trials and tribulations and all that other stuff that makes life more interesting than a $3 PSL at Starbucks. Now, after this rather loquacious introduction, let’s get down to brass tacks. (more…)

Now, I was watching this show at the same time I was seeing “Kono Subarashii”, which made for a stark contrast, as everything “Kono” is, “Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash” (“Hai to Gensō no Gurimugaru”) isn’t, so things are played out far differently. (more…)

I have decided that I don’t want ‘straight-ahead’ super heroes any more. I get kind of tired of whatever Marvel/DC have to offer in the way of ‘serious’ stories. I feel you have to have a silly story, keep the ‘serious’ aspects of it, but turn the genre on its head. This was done quite well with “One-Punch Man” and continues with “My Hero Academia” (“Boku no Hīrō Akademia”). (more…)

I guess this is the year of ‘save the world’. I have seen a ton of shows like this and “Hundred” (“Handoreddo”) is no different in almost any aspect of it.

An alien life form has come down to the Earth to wreak destruction. They are called ‘Savages’ (and about time we gave them a name befitting their foul and fetid nature. Don’t call them junk like ‘Battle Bugs’ or ‘Those Guys’). But only a certain caliber of person can hope to defeat them and these are our ‘Slayers’. They use a special crystal that unlocks their powers. Well, you can’t stick your hand in a box of Cracker Jacks and hope to get one. Nope, you have to go to a training academy. (more…)

OK, I was as shocked as anyone that “Big Order” (“Biggu Ōdā”) was actually picked up as a series. Lord knows the ‘untethered one shot’ (which will now be the infamous “Episode #0”) was baffling and confusing. At least with the 10-episode run (even the extra show makes 11 and that is short-run in my book), things are fleshed out and explained a bit better, but I don’t honestly think that an extra two episodes would have helped things in the long run. (more…)

Look, I KNEW that there was going to be a second season of “Gate: Jieitai Kano Chi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri” (“Gate: The Self-Defense Forces Fight like This in That Place”), as all the loose ends at the close of Season One made that a foregone conclusion. To their credit, they have upped the stakes, so now things are even more problematic. (more…)

What if fantasy became real? What if you lived in a world where extra-dimensional creatures of every ilk and caliber, of every temperment and desire, of every size and strength, were made whole? Thus is the intriguing plot idea behind “Myriad Colors Phantom World” (“Musaigen no Fantomu Wārudo”). So, how did this come to be? (more…)

This was an unpredictable offering, in that it was a mere episode of 30 minutes, but gave the impression of potentially being a pilot show for a possibly fuller series (could this be that ‘Episode #0’ of which we have heard so much about?) “Noblesse” (which is derived from the term ‘Noblesse Oblige’ and denotes the concept that nobility extends beyond mere entitlements and requires the person who holds such status to fulfill social responsibilities, particularly in leadership roles to those less privileged) is, among other things, a vampire show. It actually is a webtoon, but it certainly offered up something more than mere neck-biting.

Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (a.k.a. Rai, those are numerous images of him to the left) is a vampire hunter protector. His job is to make certain that the vampire hunters can do their job without getting dispatched by their foes. However, he has been asleep for 820 years (Wait! He went away in 1196? Long before Vlad the Impaler made the scene? The big event of that year was that the North Dutch coast flooded) and those forces that wish him harm have been looking for him ever since. His coffin was magically found and he was awakened into a world that he has a hard time grasping. Really? When he went to bed, the Byzantine Empire was still around and the Third Crusade was an active memory. Now we have cell phones and the internet. And Donald Trump. I have a hard time grasping this world and I’ve been here for a while! (more…)