Ai no Seikatsu is about an interconnected web of characters who want desperately to love and feel loved, yet are unable to. It is filled with the same melodramatic themes as much of Okazaki's work (post-bubble unhappy teens that have been forsaken by the system, teenage pregnancy, incest, violent outbursts, etc) but doesn't pull them off as well or as intensely as her best works
Story: The plot is made of vignettes of interconnected characters' troubled love lives that mostly rejoin during the manga's climax, ranging from the comedic to the beautifully melancholic. However, it doesn't hit the same peaks as Okazaki's other works, both in
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Sep 20, 2023
Yume no Kaseki
(Manga)
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Dream Fossil is easily the most inconsistent manga collection I've read: in terms of quality, of tone, of subject matters, etc... And I think that's what makes this collection so good. You're witnessing first-hand an artist trying to discover his style, going from genre to genre, messing up a bit at the beginning, getting better and finally truly finding his voice. Even though some of the stories' quality vary wildly, it's captivating to read the origins of such an iconic artist.
The first few stories are, let's be honest, pretty bad. They're either cliche, underdevelopped or just all-around dull, with the two baseball stories being my ... 
Aug 20, 2023
A pretty unremarkable horror anthology, but one I ended really liking it because it's so charming. The three stories focus on three unrelated teenagers as they get haunted by a dress. All three stories also tackle problems teenage girls might face, especially relating to parental authority.
The OVA mostly has a very pastel, very soft, very shojo color palette, but it's not scared to go darker and harsher for its scarier scenes, which makes for an interesting contrast that is rarely seen in horror. The character animation is expressive and full of personality The whole OVA is very SFW, so don't go expecting any blood and gore. ... 
Oct 15, 2022
Umezu Kazuo no Noroi
(Anime)
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Any horror fan knows that sometimes, you just want to wrap yourself in a blanket and watch a 6/10, low-budget, cliche horror. This is the epitome of the "6/10 cliche horror movie"
This is not terrifying, but definitely unnerving enough, especially the second story, and is no doubt help by the VHS compression. As for the visuals, the artstyle does a good job at copying Umezu's style and, while the animation is stilted, its jankiness suits well Umezu's work Also, kinda sad that this is the only horror anime by Umezu and this is FAR from his best work, but I still highly recommend watching this one ... 
Sep 21, 2022
Shouwa Ichidai Onna
(Manga)
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Could have become a good enough manga if it wasn't cancelled so abruptly
The beginning really sucks. We get two back-to-back rape scenes used as shock value, and sadly all women's only purpose throughout is to be sympathetic and get tortured, or be evil and get tortured. The second act is somewhat better but not great, and the third act is still generic, but could have had to potential to become a decent series Art-wise, I'm not a big fan of the artstyle, it often has awkward poses and characters are often off-model, but some panels have neat staging that's very reminescent of theatre Overall, the manga feels ... |
