Tag Archives: sports

Can you make a giant killing happen inside of you?

Posted on August 31, 2010 by dengar

This is a show about football (out of respect to Bateszi I’ll avoid using the word soccer…). The featured team, East Tokyo United (ETU), is dysfunctional. ETU’s fans are running away, the team keeps losing managers and players and worst … Continue reading →

Posted in Anime, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

“Next time, let me see a Matsuri Special.”

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Celeste

Something about the transience of adolescence never fails to inspire. More often than not we wake up, 20, fully grown, and confused as to how we got there. For this reason, mangaka like Kamio Youko are a particularly rare breed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Manga, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The quietness of Cross Game

Posted on August 19, 2009 by bateszi

When writing about Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I noted that I think it’s great because it has moments of exciting, fluid animation. I realise that’s a fairly superficial thing to say, but I think it’s true, too, and now, as if … Continue reading →

Posted in Anime, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Cross Game and Touch, and feminism in Japan

Posted on June 28, 2009 by bateszi

I wasn’t aware Mitsuru Adachi (mangaka) even existed until the spring season of this very year, but all that changed after I’d seen the first two episodes of Cross Game. I realised I’d missed out on a lot of great … Continue reading →

Posted in Anime, Editorials, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

In support of sports drama and Hajime no Ippo

Posted on January 23, 2009 by bateszi

You may scoff at the formulaic concept of sports drama, may think that you can ignore anime like this because you’re not into boxing, but I’ll retort by suggesting that that is a lazy way of thinking. Like every great sports anime, Hajime no Ippo is fuelled by great characters. It is overflowing with feeling. Please don’t ignore it. Continue reading →

Posted in Editorials, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

Time to champion Ookiku Furikabutte

Posted on February 18, 2008 by bateszi

Living in ol’ Blightly, we aren’t taught the delights of baseball. For us, it’s either cricket or rounders, and the latter’s enjoyed mostly by girls anyway. So I sat down to watch Ookiku Furikabutte knowing basically zip all about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 33 Comments

A movie about Ping Pong, can’t be good, surely?

Posted on July 29, 2007 by bateszi

One of my favourite films of all time; a charming and philosophical portrait of human nature painted by an eccentric quartet of characters in love with ping pong. Here’s why. Continue reading →

Posted in Live action, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments