Hear me out, I know that previously I already addressed several themes of Isekai and reverse Isekai without ever actually writing an article on the genre and its evolution, but to be fair there are people out there who did this way better (thinking at you Gigguk, the Isekai gigachad – you da real MVP)….
The Escapes
Escape from New York (1981) and Escape from L.A. (1996) are two dystopian action movies directed by John Carpenter and featuring Kurt Russell in the role of Snake Plissken; unfortunately, although there was a third entry planned to complete the trilogy, it never quite happened. The movies are by no stretch of the imagination excellent,…
One Ghost, scrambled
Mardock Scramble is an anime movie (divided in three parts), adapted from its homonymous light novel. It presents some very thought-provoking scenarios and deals with crude themes such as rape, suicide, murder and the ontological dilemma of the worth of a life. It behaves somewhat as a noir and a murder mystery narration, while also…
Spins on Stampedes
It has always difficult to take a classic and try to give it a different spin, even more so in anime. This approach thrived on occasion and for various reasons: think for instance of Hellsing Ultimate (which to be fair, the OAV was just a better visual overhaul) or for the innovative style in JoJo…
Boron – B
The Fifth Element is a 1997 science fiction action film directed by Luc Beson. Given how much appreciation I have for this movie, this article will not only be biased (obviously) but it will not be as professional as with other movies I take into consideration for this column. I won’t talk much about the…
A song of the sea
This short story is something I wrote for Haunted Shores, the blog of a research group that investigates coasts and littoral spaces in Gothic, horror and fantastic media. I had the pleasure of meeting them during an online event they organized in which I spoke about WaterWorld. Link: https://haunted-shores.com/2023/05/25/a-song-of-the-sea-by-bogdan-groza/ I have always found that truths…
Un momento eterno
Questo breve racconto ha una storia un po’ più particolare: è un elaborato che avevo scritto per la mia tesi di triennale e che poi avevo reso in altre tre lingue, studiando i problemi più comuni nella traduzione. La versione che riporto invece è stata rielaborata, togliendo tutta una serie di fronzoli letterari e onomatopee…
Of Ojisans and Isekais
The Isekai genre This is not going to be an in-depth or exhaustive article on the anime genre itself since that would lead me to open too many parenthesis and I would probably end up wasting too much space. I will however give a brief overlook on this subgenre to at least make you understand…
This is not The Office
Office space is a 1999 black comedy, directed by Mike Judge (the same one that would later direct Idiocracy) and featuring Ron Livingstone with several co-stars such as Jennifer Aniston and John C. McGinley. The movie begins by depicting the soul-sucking and demoralizing day of a white-collar employee; the work environment makes the main character…
Admiral, reach for the stars
This article is about Star Trek: Picard, my thoughts and especially my feelings for one of the few series that managed to surprise me in recent years; that is no small feat in itself. Quite possibly the second season felt a bit lacklustre, but when dealing with Q and time paradoxes, it was to be…