Book review: "Perdido Street Station" by China Miéville

I have finished reading China Miéville's "Perdido Street Station" almost two weeks ago, but I had so hectic last two week that I didn't have time to blog about it. I actually read this book a long time ago once, borrowing from the library. I had a notion that I remember this book quite well so I was reluctant to buy it, but I wanted to reread it before going to next two books ("The Scar" and "Iron Council"). So I decided to buy it after all - and ended quite surprised how much actually I have forgotten!

(for great fan-art, Google images for "Perdido Street Station")

"Perdido Street Station" is one of those books that are really hard to describe, especially their plot. Whatever I write, I will miss the point. But here is a try... "Perdido Street Station" tells a story set in very imaginative setting, the City of New Crobuzon, which includes magic, alchemy, science, science fiction, insect races, magical races, demons, spider-gods, cyborgs, artificial intelligence, flying people, oppression, horror, religion and education, among a bunch of other things. In the midst of it is Isaac, a underground scientist who, working on another project, happens to free a strange breed of gigantic moths that feed on people's conscience. Moths start to terrorize the whole City and Isaac becomes target to both the totalitarian regime the rules the City and by a drug-lord that was making money by moths, which forces him to try to catch the moths on his own...

I haven't read much books by Chine Miéville (only this one and "The City and The City"), but even I know that he is famous by his imaginativeness. And this is quite obvious here, especially in the first part. First part of the book especially, but also the book in whole is written in "look at my beautiful garden" form (I borrowed this from Jo Walton and her review of "Aristoi"), where Miéville plays and shows off his imagination. But this is a good thing because he builds a great setting - the list I mention in previous paragraph is only a part of it, notions I could describe in one word. He sometimes goes quite deep in details, like with descriptions of khepri's society, or with the handlingers. But here is also the problem of this book. Even to me, who like this kind of stuff, this wild and weird setting managed to become too tiresome on occasions. Imagination is good, but there has to be some boundaries. Luckily, this happened only few times while reading the book, so it can be forgiven.

It would take too much time to mention all great ides Miéville shows, but I have to note the Weaver and the daemons. I am really curious what more can he think of in the next two books with same setting to keep this level of freshness...

As with the setting, there is a bunch of characters in the book, but only two of them can be said to be main characters. Isaac is one, of course. He is an eccentric, a genius dropping out of college, hanging out with artist and working for the criminals. On the other hand, he is fat, clumsy, and not really someone you could look upon to. This is what makes him such a lovable and aspiring main characters. The other one is Yagharek. We don't get much from him, and I don't want to reveal spoilers, but those short intrusions with his POVs were really impressing. Miéville succeeded in giving him a very powerful voice, for all his tacitness. As I said, there is bunch of other characters, but with the exception of maybe Lin and Derkhan, they are not too important. But you can be sure that they are written in detail and flamboyant as the rest of this book.

His writing is very good. Although he can become tedious with the details, it can be forgiven. The book is violent, dark and graphic. And after finishing it, I realized that it is maybe a bit too depressing, with no happy end too much pain. Also, the book has a lot of morally questionable or rightly unfair decisions. A big example is with the sick old man in the end. The government, who is in the beginning described as comically evil, turns out to be the real villain.

Another thing I wanted to mention is my surprise with how much of this book I have forgot. When I started reading it, I had a misconception that I know it from the beginning to end, especially the plot. First I was surprised by the quantity of details I really had no recollection about. But the real surprise came when I finished two thirds of the book and realized that I have no idea how the book ends! The moth-hunting, I had no idea about it. I felt like I was reading a different version of the book, with the same beginning but a different ending. And to thing how much pride I put on my memory...

So, if you like weird books, a lot of details and imagination large as an ocean, "Perdido Street Station" is a book for you. You can think about China Miéville as a dark and gritty version of Terry Prachet, having fun on the tropes. Not a book I would recommend to exclusive fans of classical fantasy a la Tolkien.

Anime review: "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica"

"Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica", or "Madoka Magica" hereafter, is not a show I would usually be attracted to, at least considering the style of its animation and its cover-picture on AniDB. Therefore, I pretty much unintentionally avoided it two years ago when it came out. I also avoided it the year later when it got several awards for the pass year... But after watching other high-rated anime, "Madoka Magica" kept jumping out on first places and getting nice reviews, so I finally decided to give it a try.

As I said, "Madoka Magica" at first looks as a typical shoujo action anime with magical girls (mahou shoujo): cute flat-chested and silly/clumsy protagonist, cute uniforms, lots of pink, lace and winking.... Setting include middle-school girls who enter a contract with some kind of cute-cat-look-a-like demon who gives them magical powers and a free-wish while they in return have to fight evil "witches" (nightmares) who attack innocent men and women...

Well, while it certainly has elements of mahou shoujo anime and it looks like one, "Madoka Magica" hides a big surprise for its viewers: it is actually a very powerful seinen tragedy! While it is a bit angsty toward end, that is to be expected of such anime, and the complete reversal of expectations negates any negative experience...

As you noticed, I am trying to avoid spoilers as much as I can. But I just can't avoid talking about the main villain... First, you really don't expect her to be a villain, especially considering her looks. Secondly, he is really a psychological masterpiece! It is scary how good she is at being passive-aggressive and manipulative toward an innocent girl... I am fan of grittiness, but there are some lines you just don't cross...

As I said, it is really a tragedy - it becomes evident after all that Mami's happy talk. And definitely it is seinen: the more Homura tries to do what is right, the worse it gets.

Other remarking sides of this anime are the visual side and the music. The music is very good, including a song by Kalafina. The show has nice vibrant colors, which together with intense music and the action at the beginning, made me like this anime instantly. As I said, design of character is typically shoujo, but this you just have to accept. Things change when they enter the "witch domain", where it looks like some kind of patchwork and it is very interesting. There are 12 episodes totally.

All in all, "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica" was a pretty good surprise, but a kind of that I would recommend mostly to those who like seinen, and potentially josei anime. I hope those will forgive me my little misdirection in review and be thankful for it later.

Book review: "Iron Angel" by Alan Campbell

I was very busy this week (had two whole-day trips) so I didn't found time before today, even though I finished "Iron Angel" by Alan Campbell last weekend. This is the second book in trilogy called "Deepgate Codex", and sincerely, I haven't expected much from it. You know the drill: new author, first trilogy, second book - it usually ends badly. But "Iron Angel" just proved me wrong...

"Iron Angel" is separated in three parts. First part is what I expected - after defeating and killing god Ulcis, ex-Church angel Dill and ex-Spine (Church assassins) Rachel Heal are on the run from Deepgate. Even though they finally come on friendly terms with immortal and invincible Carnival, her craving for blood separated them, so now they are on their own. Chased be Spine, who took over things in Deepgate, they will soon learn that there are other enemies to consider. Rys, god of flowers and knives, had sent his elder brother Cosnipol, god of brine and salt, to investigate Ulcis' death and avenge him.

So far, if you have read enough books, this is a pattern you probably recognize - after defeating the big bad in first book or season, our heroes find themselves in trouble after finding out that big bad was only a captain. With defeating him, they just forced his superiors (real big bad) so turn his attention toward them. Another trope is when it is revealed that big bad was not so bad after all and he was actually keeping poor and weak people from the real big bad (e.g. "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann" in anime, or "Mistborn" trilogy by Brandon Sanderson in books). First part of the book follows the first trope, while second and third are closer to the second one.

Reading second part was like reading a totally new series. Only things connecting it to "Scar Night" was Dill as main character and seeing things from his POV. In third part we lose even that, although some old characters come back. Plot and setting expansion introduced in these two parts is quite big. As you noticed, I am trying to avoid spoilers, so you will have to believe me that they are both great. I am only sorry that I didn't reread "Scar Night" before reading "Iron Angel" (I didn't expect such turn-around), so I can't be sure if setting is consistent. I was especially surprised and delighted by resolution regarding PRC management - I am only sorry that the effect will be spoiled in my second reading. There are some real clever details that make this setting very complex. Plot in general is very interesting and completely unpredictable.

Pace of plot is very fast, maybe even a bit too fast. I wouldn't mind this book being a hundred or two pages longer (it is only 500 pages long) - but I am a fan of complex settings and I am always hungry for new details. But on the other hand, that would make "Iron Angel" less impressive book - such hard pace make it very intensive and it's not letting you relax. One of best points of this book was its description of Hell (whole second part) and characters connected to it. It was done really originally and the effect of it was surreal. Or maybe weird. In any case, it was great and unexpected. You should be warned that there is a lot of graphic violence, and even more blood. Blood is actually one of its structural elements.

Characters are very nicely written and interesting. They remain a bit mysterious because their reasons and motivations are left hidden. But when Campbell devotes himself to them, he makes them feel believable and real. There is a bunch of new and important characters: Hasp, Alice Harper, Mina Green, John Anchor... My only surprise was that Carnival was almost nonexistent in this book - but maybe she will have a larger role in the last book.

The biggest surprise comes at the end - and then book ends with an enormous cliffhanger. It almost made me immediately go to Amazon and buying its sequel, but I was able to stop myself.

"Iron Angel" was a terrific book introducing massive amount of new elements, a big surprise when I expected weak and tepid sequel. If last part, "God of Clocks", is good as this one, "Deepgate Codex" will be promoted to one of my favorite short series of all time. A recommendation to everybody who searches for a bit of unconventional fantasy.

Book review: "The Cold Commands" by Richard Morgan

I have read "The Steel Remains", first in "A Land fit for Heroes" by Richard Morgan almost a year ago and I liked the book very much. My only objection was ending, which didn't make much impact nor was epic as expected from building up. I know this sounds conflicting, because ending is what usually make the biggest impression, but this just wasn't such a book. It had a great characters and world-building, was very gritty and violent and I liked it because of that. If its story wasn't epic enough, it was nevertheless a great enjoyment to read through it.

While I was buying its sequel, "The Cold Commands" (I bought a Kindle edition), I encountered some poor reviews of it, which made me think I made a bad investment. But these reviews, with my experience from first book, actually made this book better for me, because I knew not to expect an epic fantasy.

I am not sure that this book has a real, overall plot. Instead, we follow our three main characters, Ringil, Archet and Egar, in another set of adventures that in the end make them gather once again. Since last book, Ringil Eskiath, a League noble-man, war hero and exiled homosexual, has set himself to self-proclaimed war against slavery. But after he angers enough people, he will be forced to flee and abandon his efforts. Egar Dragon, a Majak barbarian with taste for pleasures of the city has decided to abandon his steppes and once again enjoy in decadence of Imperial City of Yhelteth. There he "acts" as bodyguard of lady kir-Archet Indamaninarmal (wrote it properly in only two attempts), but actually does much and grows bored. Archet herself, as senior adviser of Yhelteth Empereor and last Kiriath on this world, has gotten a mission to wait for some kind of messenger. The meandering stream of events will lead these threes friend together and they will once again be forced to confront the menace from last book, the dwenda.

OK, I know this "sounds" like a plot, but trust me, it is not in real sense of the word. "The Cold Commands" serves as a classical transitional book, from introductory and world-building first one, to closing third one. So, instead on plot, it focuses on characters and world-building, with fascinating results. We learn new information, about now finished war against lizards, about dragons, dwenda, Kiriath, Grey Places, and so on. I really like how Morgan made this sound like some strange mix of SF and fantasy, with references like "The cat is nor dead or alive", and with the concept of Helmsmen. He also succeeded with making Grey Places a very confusing and intriguing place.

Characters are also on high level. Ringil is this time described as bad-ass anti-hero ("Ringil Eskiath. Faggot dragonslayer."). If you like to read about tough guys spitting in the face of the world and authority, this is you book - Rambo (in first part) looks like a kitten compared to him. But you have to give him the credit; he doesn't do it without any reason or purely out of spite (although spite does make large portion of it), but because loyalty and his own sense of honor. Egar is done much better than in last book. His plot-line unfortunately doesn't hold much meaning, but he is a very fun and intense character to read about. Archet felt very subdued throughout whole book and not as competent as she was described previously, but I presume that forcing yourself off from very addictive drug makes you like that. Well, there is another reason for her anxiety, and I must admit that I didn't understand it until the very end.

Again, I have an objection regarding the ending. This time, I found it somewhat confusing and I didn't get it completely how Ringil did what he did. But this is only a small objection, and I think that a reread would help me with understanding. Not a real complaint, but more of an observation - don't expect some artistic writing and language. This book is very down-to-earth and gritty.

Well, since I am mentioning grittiness, I have to warn you: this is one of the most violent and gritty books I have ever read. Close description of gang-rape, sex, detailed memories of very war, very bloody and violent description of fighting... Also, if you have something against scenes of gay and lesbian sex, this is not a book for you.

But, I you like action-packed books about ass-kicking anti-heroes, with really clever world-building and gritty characters, then "The Cold Commands" IS a book for you. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the sequel and last book in trilogy.

Book review: "The Steel Remains" by Richard K. Morgan

I've been reading positive reviews about "The Steel Remains" since it was out, so it has been in my wish list for a while. I've ordered it while I was rereading "Malazan Book of the Fallen" and it waited me for a month or two, and now it finally came its turn. Several years ago, while I had time to be a member if local library, I read one of Richard Morgan's hits, "Altered Carbon". I remember it as a good book, a SF action-thriller, but since I've read it only once, I don't remember much detail.

The sword on the cover has a cool mirror-effect

I loved this book literally from the first sentence:

"When a men you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you only have two basic options."

What a great way to start a book. From the very start I was remind of Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law Trilogy". It has the familiar combination of grittiness and humor, only with Morgan it is bit more of grittiness and little less of humor. Nevertheless, it has that same feel of fantasy that deals with real people; people who are weak, dirty, curse a lot, but manage to surprise you more than not. So don't expect clear differentiation on good and bad...

Story follows three main characters. Ringil is an ex-soldier, hero of last war, now fallen on lower branches of life. He's living in a small village, using remains of his glory to get drinks and room in local inn. You get first indication that Ringil was more than he is now when his mother, a member of one of most powerful noble families, comes to force him into finding their cousin, sold to slavery. Although he is reluctant of come back to capital, to people who betrayed him and life it disappointed him, his mother's wishes are hard to decline.

Two second main characters are Egar Dragonbane and Archeth. Egar is member of nomadic horse-warrior tribe Majak. In his youth he was a mercenary and also a war-hero. After returning to his tribe, he is now a rich leader, having everything that a man could wish for, but finds his life among almost-barbaric people too dull, especially compared to sophisticated life in neighboring Empire of Yhelteth. Archeth is one of most trusted advisors of Emperor of the same Empire, mainly because she is a last member of her race, advanced and long-living people of Kiriath. Her life will again become exciting as she is sent to investigate a strange attack on one of the coastal towns.

First, I liked the worldbuilding. Morgan has something of a Erikson's approach. He plunges you in the middle of a world and don't explain you much. You get brief references to the world throughout the book, and you do your best connected them to whole picture. For example, you get mentions of Lizard Folk and Kiriath, two inhuman races during the whole book, but even after reading it whole, you don't have a complete picture of who they really were and what happened to them. I like this approach because it gives you an impression of a solid world, one that has a life of its own. Also, I always like when fantasy mixes with SF; as with Erikson's K'Chain Che-Malle, so with Morgan's Kiriath.

Characters are great. Ringil is a main guy. At first he is described as just one old veteran, with one heroic act to single him from the mass. As book follows him to capital, you find out that he was, and still is, much more. He has one trait that forced him to abandon his rightful place as a son of powerful noble family: he is openly gay in a world that ostracizes homosexuality. And by ostracizing, I mean torture and death, except in case you happen to be rich and powerful. This hypocrisy, combined with what he considers a betrayal of his war efforts, left him disappointed in humanity, especially to higher classes. Egar is also great. He is a middle-aged warrior that had a touch of sophistication in big city capital and can't find his rest now when he is back to his people. And Acrheth is very interesting, since she is of different race. From her POV I think we get most facts about the world. Although that doesn't mean she is just an info-dump-machine.

Unfortunately, book is great only till last quarter or so. At one point, one all three main characters come together, it just starts to fall apart. Story is good until that point, but after it gets too predictable and uninteresting. It fails to give an impression of well-rounded conclusion and it lacks any exciting parts: it just falls into usual fantasy tropes. And worse than that, characters do the same. Egar, who is very insightful characters for the most of the book, becomes just a wise and friendly barbarian; Ringil a snarly but good commander and Archeth an elf. I was quite disappointed with this ending. But, considering how book was good until that point, and how good was worldbuilding, I have hopes for the sequel, "The Cold Commands", and plan to order it soon.

As I mentioned, I have read "Altered Carbon" only once, but I remember that main character's name was Takeshi Kovach. I wonder if name Takavach in "The Steel Remains" is a hidden reference to it?

The book has quite graphical description of violence and sex. I noticed on some user reviews that some people were offended with such detailed depiction of sex between two men. So if this really bothers you, maybe you should skip this book.

"The Steel Reamins" is one very innovating and gritty book, with exceptional worldbuilding and characters, but unfortunately with weak ending. Nevertheless, it is a great read for fans of darker fantasy, so I recommend it.

Movie review: "Shutter Island"

I did a stupid thing. I watched the last fifteen minutes of "Shutter Island" trough sleep. I wasn't actually sleeping, but I wasn't really awake. I was conscious enough to know what is going on, but not enough to fully appreciate it. It was not because of the movie (on the contrary, movie is very good), but I was lying under blanket with my girlfriend, it was very cozy and warm and I was sleepy. Those who watched the movie will understand how stupid my falling asleep was, and you who didn't will just have to take my word about it being a very stupid idea.

Although I don't plan to reveal any spoilers, conception of this movie is such, that less you know, the movie will be better. So think twice before reading this review.

Now, back to the movie... The movie starts with Teddy Daniels, US Marshall, meeting his new partner on a ferry to Shutter Island. Two of them are going there to investigate disappearance of a woman, patient of mental institution for violent criminals. This institution is actually the only building on the island and the ferry is only way from it. Immediately after arriving, they will start to suspect something is amiss: guards on the edge, cowed patients, sneaky doctors... But even their wildest imaginations will be far from the truth!

"Shutter Island" is very disturbing movie: atmosphere is dark and stormy and all people are very nervous. Especially patients, who look like they are in fear; some of them are deformed or show signs of physical abuse. Events in movie are taking place in fifties and scenes from WWII are very often, showing Teddy's coming to Dachau concentration camp. All this serves to make viewer a bit uncomfortable (it was a bit inappropriate to watch this movie from bed). Combine that with pictures of lobotomy, electro-shocks....

Cast is good; Teddy is played by Leonardo DiCaprio; movie also stars Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow. Somewhere at the middle of the movie you start guessing what is going on. I had two theories, my girlfriend also two different ones; in the end, we were both very, very off. It is just this kind of the movie.

I liked this movie very much, but it is not for everybody. It is a serious and violent movie dealing with psychology, and it asks concentration from viewer.

Anime review: Box of Goblins

After giving up on "K-On!!" I switched to "Box of Goblins". It is a 2008 anime which I had in my wishlist for some time, but never gave it much thought. I decided to watch it because I wanted something serious and short. It turned out this was a big score!

It's hard to define "Box of Goblins". In first episode we are introduced to two high-school girls. One, Kanako, is a captivating and popular, while other, Yoriko, is not. But for some reason Kanako befriends Yoriko, and so Yoriko starts to practically worship her. There is a lot of talk about reincarnation, past lives and future and so on. It gave me completely different fell of the anime than I expected. Then, a crime happens and Kanako ends up almost dead. This is where the action starts.

Show is quite a mix. It starts with philosophical mussing of a teenage girl, but then changes to a detective story. Then to supernatural mystery based on Japanese mythology. And then again to science fiction action... But it does so in such a great way that all feels natural. Show is broken in different POVs and in between we have slices of history (probably imagined, but looking realistic) that gives it a feel of real-life story. It has a resemblance to "Aoi Bungaku" series, because it happens in first half of 20th century (after WWII, which is important) and has that creepy mood, dark tones and surreal scenes. But it also has something of a Frankenstein novel (you will see why if you bear till the end).

We have a moderately large cast of some dozen important characters. What is peculiar that some of the main character got introduced only after half of the show. All characters are interesting. For some we get a nice characterization, realized from one side by inner monologue and from other by psychology analyze by others. While other character are just shown from the outside and we don't know anything of their history or motives. I hope for more series revolving around these characters, because two of them (exorcist and private detective) have great potential. I just checked Wikipedia: anime is based on a novel, and there is a series of novels by same author (Kyogoku Natsuhiko) with one of them a main character.

Visually, it's quite strong and realistic. The same is true for audio. And it has to be pretty good for me to notice it.

Anyway, I'm quite surprised that this "Box of Goblins" is not more famous. Although, first episode can be something of a turn-off, but after second and third, you should be already hooked up on this great fantasy-SF mystery-history mix. Definitely an anime for all fans of seinen and mystery shows.

An anime review: XXXHOLIC: Rou

source: AniDB.net

I am not really a fan of CLAMP and their works, but I liked "Code Geass" anime and "XXXHOLIC" franchise. "Tsubasa Chronicles" I think it's OK, but I don't think much of it. So, if you didn't watch previous "XXXHolic" anime, watch the first one and continue with rest if you like it. If you watched it, then continue to the review of latest anime installment, "XXXHOLIC: Rou"...

An anime review: Mononoke

I had "Mononoke" in my wishlist for some time, but I skipped it each time because of unattractive picture on its AniDB profile. Since this week I am on vacation and I haven't downloaded anything else, I decided to use it as a quick-watch, since it got only 12 episodes. From AniDB I knew it is some kind of mystery-horror anime about some guy travelling around and fighting evil ghosts.

I will start my review from unusual side for me: the animation. This is not a classical Japanese animation; it reminded me of European cartoons from when I was a kid (in the eighties). I have recollection of some cartoon, featuring a detective, that had this same type of animation, and its name is on top of my tongue, but I just can't remember it. Anyway, it had static background (but wavy, like road in a hot summer day), but characters are not singled by brighter colors (like in e.g. "Tom and Jerry"). Movement is slow when there is a movement; mostly are characters shown in one position, then after a change of angle or scene, they are in different position. In some way, it reminded me also on "Gankutsuou", but mostly, because of colors and textures. Also, design of characters is not Japanese, and people in background are represented my mannequins. Characters look like Japanase people drawn in European cartoons. It is unusual, but it looks very nice. At first look, they look a bit crude, but later you see that there are lots of details and effort invested. I think that I noticed some use of CGI (scales).

My initial expectation about story was true. It follows unnamed Medicine Seller, traveling around. His actual call (or maybe passion) is really killing Mononokes (Mononoke is a type of ghost; it is all well explained in anime). We don't know anything about his background and chapters (five of them) are mostly unconnected (there is one repeating character in two chapters). He kills ghosts with his Sword, but to release it, he needs to know Form, Truth and Regret of the Mononoke. So, episodes consist mostly of interviews with related parties and connecting it to the whole story. Ghosts are based on Japanese mythology; I recognized few of them, even the names. In a way, it is same as "Mushishi", just with ghosts instead mushrooms, and with more (much more!) action.

Stories are very interesting and tense; I way usually surprised after the solution. There is lots of blood and violence in this anime. Themes are mostly human weakness and sins: jealousy, corruption, greed, even incest. It was disturbing sometimes, but on the other hand, you can read about similar cases everyday in newspapers.

Except opening and ending (which I didn't like), I didn't notice any song or melodies in background; there are mostly just noises and sounds. This helps in creating the mood very well. Voices of character are unique as their design.

Interesting thing, I can't say when this anime takes place. Few chapters are definitely in medieval Japan, but last chapter (that chronologically happens first) takes place in a train and features a woman reporter, typing machine and a telephone! Also, I would like to know more about the main character, the Medicine Seller. He looks and act very cool, especially his alter-ego (at least that is how I perceived person wielding the Sword). There is one anime connected with this one, "Ayakashi", so I'll definitely watch it.

In short, a very nice anime to watch when you have some free time. It doesn't have any overall plot you have to remember, but it works well with keeping the viewer amused. Definitely worth watching; not suited for kids, though.

Aoi Bunkagu - anime review

Aoi Bungaku is an anime adaptation of six classics of modern Japanese literature. They were all written in the second quarter of 20th century and they remind me of the books I had to read in school for assignments. Except these are a bit weirder...

As I said, there are six of them. There is a nice list on AniDB where there is a short description of each one. Although I believe that list was made before the anime was screened and that it describes literature sources, because there are slight differences between them.

Each adaption differs in style and story. But, they all share some qualities: supreme quality of animation and analysis of human psychology. Also, at the beginning of each there is an introduction where live narrator gives us short biography of the author of the story and prepares us with some questions. If you believe him, stories are based on real experiences of the authors.

First story lasts four episodes and it is the longest one. It follows few phases of life of the son of a congressman, who is a shame to his father and tries to find his own way in life as an artist, a manga-ka. It is a very dark story, including suicides, drug and alcohol abuse, ect. Nevertheless, I felt sorry for the main character, because it was obvious he suffers from some mental problems (manifesting in hallucinations). But mostly, it is because he believes himself not to be a human, so that he doesn't deserve things like friendship, family and happiness.

Second story, two episodes long, was a great surprise, especially first few minutes. It includes a forest bandit wielding sword, chewing bubble gum and listening to music-player, a talking pig and a harem. It was somewhat bizarre and looked like a slap-stick comedy, but again I found myself sympathizing with the main character (the mentioned bandit). I especially remembered his description of living in a city.

Third story was my favorite. It tells the story of two young students who both fell in love with the daughter of their house-owner. One is a spoiled son with rich background while other is poor ascetic dedicated to finding his Way. I found it most impressive that the first episode is from POV of rich-boy and the second one is from poor-boys POV.

Fourth story was also good; it lasts two episodes and it is a modern adaptation of a Greek myth. It simultaneously retells two stories: the myth about a man who is to be executed but has to go to his sister's wedding so he offers his best friend to be killed if he doesn't come back after the wedding; and the story of two best friends who got separated fifteen years ago, but one of them still can't get over that.

Fifth and sixth story takes place in the same, imagined kingdom. First one follows a cruel criminal who get executed for his crimes and then suffers in Hell. And last one is about a painter who, to be able to paint human suffering, get his life destroyed.

I'm not sure how to summarize this or to recommend it. From one side I did enjoy it, but I don't think it is for everybody. If you like classics and psychology, then maybe this is for you. Expect a serious anime about human mind and habits that will make you question yourself.

Mousou Dairinin - Paranoia Agent, anime review

This is a 13 episode anime series from year 2004. I don't know why, but I haven't even noticed this anime until few months ago. Note that I have started regularly watching anime about 3 years ago and at first I systematically watched classics (except mecha-anime). And this anime definitely belongs to classics, so why I missed it until now is a mystery. But, this series is not for everybody, especially not for kids.

It has many surreal elements, much violence and occasional adult scene. It reminded me on "FLCL", but it's much, much easier to follow. On the other hand, although it's fun to watch, you can't do it with one eye and half a brain. In some motives, it reminded me also to "Welcome to NHK" (like suicide-deals and general loneliness).

First 7 episodes follow the plot: there is series of random hit-and-run assaults, where all witnesses accuse a elementary-school boy with baseball bat and roller-blades (Shounen Bat = Bat-Boy). Two cops try to solve the case and discover that assaults are not as random as it was first thought. But, then the surreal elements start! Then follow the three episodes that describe random achievements of Shounen-bat who becomes an urban legend/Robin Hood hero. And last three episodes resolve the plot (or don't; see it for yourself!).

Anime analyzes some psychological problems that modern people and society suffers from, like emotional distancing, violence, running from reality, etc. Although characters at first look evil and disgusting, after you think more about it, they are just regular persons, with some minor flaws in character, that lead them to doing "evil". Example: one of victims of Shounen Bat is a elementary school kid, that tries hard to become best in studying, sports and generally to be respected by his co-pupils. But when he runs into problems, it leads him to extreme... With little imagination, anyobody can end like people from this anime.

From technical side, video is good, for 2004. Nothing special, with good design of characters; reminds me to "GTO". Sounds are very good, and I especially like opening song.

In general, it's a great seinen anime for those who like deep characters and psychology.

For my next interest, I'm not sure what will it be. Although I don't usually read manga, there are two that I would like to read: "Claymore" and "Gantz". They both have anime version that cuts the plot short, so I would like to know what happens after anime ended. Then there is one anime and one book. But it will probably be one of mangas.