Aoi Bungaku ep. 1 – Another Spectacular Madhouse Show

Aoi Bungaku is pretty trippy – it’s a psychological mindrape that has no intention of showing it’s hand to the viewer. The series is set to adapt four separate novels done with four different character designers and directors. I knew beforehand that the character designs for the first segment were done by the superb Takeshi Obata (Death Note, Bakuman, Hikaru no Go), but I only just found out that the first segment is also done by one of my all-time favorite directors (!!!) Morio Asaka (CardCaptors Sakura, Chobits, Galaxy Angel, Gunslinger Girl, Nana) who, as usual, is storyboarding and directing. You can’t go wrong with that combo!

Opinions vs. Absolutes in Anime Reviews

The word ‘good’ gets thrown around a lot in anime discussion, and in conjoint with various aspects of what most consider to matter in an anime. ‘Good animation’ or ‘good characters’ or ‘good directing’. Good is always taken to have an objective meaning, however, some of these things are totally up to opinion, while others aren’t. I’d like to explore what things should and shouldn’t be personal considerations.