Author Archives: Merlin
Black Summoner is a Fun Ride
This is one of those anime that doesn’t simply have the usual tropes of an overpowered protagonist in another world with a bountiful harem… it celebrates and has fun with these tropes! And, based on the ending to its first season, the … Continue reading
Sunday’s Wisdom #419: What to Do With the World
“Or, you could take the world as you find it, broken and jagged and weak, and you could step right into the midst of it. Take what it is and spend yourself making it what it should be.” – Flibbet … Continue reading
Anime Review: Parallel World Pharmacy
Wait, a pharmacy isekai anime that has some actual plot?! The first anime like that I encountered completely failed to pass my one-episode rule. The second had a contrived plot in which the pharmacy was ultimately irrelevant. This is the third one … Continue reading
Sunday’s Wisdom #418: Love, More Than Money
“I must say, Regina, now our son really is the richest boy in the world.” “He has friends.” – Richard & Regina Rich, Richie Rich This comes at the end of a movie which, from beginning to end, is about … Continue reading
Anime Review: Bucchigire!
The English translation of the title is, “Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys.” Somehow, I have difficulty taking that title seriously, so I still think of it as Bucchigire. It’s an alternate history that puts a rather fantastic twist on the famed … Continue reading
Sunday’s Wisdom #417: Understanding and Hope
“How to stay afloat in this world and all of its gravity When every day the pull is grabbing me And it’s easy thinking, ‘Nobody here’s understanding me’ Maybe I’m not alone Maybe I’m not alone” – from “Gravity,” by … Continue reading
The Charming Little Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting
With a title like this, one might expect an overwhelming comedy, maybe something like the anime version of Three Men and a Baby, where hilarious hijinks ensue as the big, tough men have to learn to adapt to the task of … Continue reading
Why Killing Bites Infuriates Me
With a great deal of money, influence, and access to highly advanced science, a quartet of corporations have mastered the ability to splice human DNA with that of animals. With this amazing technology, they turn people into therianthropes, as they … Continue reading
Sunday’s Wisdom #415: We Must Stop Moping
“I’d been feeling sorry for myself, which is about the most useless thing you can feel: it doesn’t do a damned thing for you. You don’t feel any better, you don’t get any better, and you’re too busy moping to … Continue reading
Merlin's Musings 