Anime Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

“Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy’s first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one and only truth.” – Alphonse Elric FMAB is a masterpiece steeped in themes from science, religion, war, […]

Anime Review: Death Note

“Because I was bored.” It has been over two years since I watched Death Note, and so my review will only be limited to my own sense of what the show aimed to do, albeit without the substantiative plot details. Death Note is the anime I recommend most often to friends who aren’t as familiar […]

Anime Review: Hunter x Hunter

I want to apologize to myself for the long wait on my FAVORITE anime of all time – Hunter x Hunter (watched last year). This is without-a-doubt, one of the best shounen ever made. I thought long and hard how to convince others to watch it, but I think it serves others best to highlight […]

Anime Review: Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte is a philosophical masterpiece masquerading as a gore-filled horror anime. The anime explores questions like, “what is the human species?”, “is speciesism justified?”, and “is environmentalism just human self-gratification?” Add a riveting plot and touch character interactions – and that’s here’s what we end up with. What is “the maxim” anyways? Ironically, for a […]

Anime Review: Code Geass

[Negligible spoilers] Prior to watching this masterpiece, I had thought the protagonist character was no longer an area of storytelling innovation. In classic shounen, the protagonist is designed to champion the viewer. Through his/her falls and triumphs, the viewer is able to grow vicariously alongside the protagonist. As such, the protagonist has to be relatable, […]

Anime Review: Psycho-Pass (Season 1)

Despite appearing unrelated from the latter in every category, Psycho-Pass tackles a similar set of moral dilemmas as Shinsekai Yori. This one hits much closer to home as its setting is a near-future cyberpunk tech dystopia (so close to home China banned it). The society of Psycho-Pass has perfected the use of cymatic scans to […]

Anime Review: From The New World

Dear non-existent readers, I better start writing on this blog again to justify my annual subscription renewals. Even though I can’t count how many years it’ll be until I’m unabashed to actually include this on any public profile of mine, there’re recurring times I’m reminded of the purpose this blog serves: a canvas for me […]

A losing battle

One of the life lessons that have accompanied me most consistently throughout my life is to maintain a very pessimistic outlook on life. I think of life as a losing battle. All the forces can one day work against me, except the forces emanating out of myself. I take the quote, “Work like there is […]

The Second-generation Asian

I wrote my final research paper in my Program of Rhetoric & Writing class on the second-generation Asian experience. Read if interested. Research RBA Final There’s also an accompanying iMovie presentation. Watch if interested.

Our Brave New World

Increasingly, I ask myself (and one or two close friends) the question – would you rather live in 1984, a totalitarian society of mass surveillance and repressive regiments or Brave New World, a “negative utopia” (as the author put it) of corporate tyranny that uses behavioral conditioning alongside other scientific advancements to enslave its people […]