Quotes of August 2012 II

Jason Thompson on reading manga from your library: "I'm proud to say that over the years, I've supported our public libraries with hundreds and hundreds of dollars of late fees."

Melinda Beasi on Olympos: "Despite a strong beginning, featuring a newly captured human (Heinz), charged by Apollo with the daunting task of convincing Ganymede—after years of Apollo’s goading—that escape from the garden is possible after all, the series soon loses focus, devolving into a kind of distractedly philosophical pudding that never quite gels."

Erin Finnegan on Dream Eater Merry: "She acts like the caring younger-older-sister, which is a type and not a real character. “Nurturing” is not a personality, let alone a well-rounded character.  Yumeji is also relatively personality-free, which comes through in Blake Shepard's generic (yet spirited) performance as An Anime Protagonist."

Sean Gaffney on The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato: "Funny in a cute way, angsty in a cute way, and romantic in a very cute way, this is for everyone who thought that Haruhi’s story would be great if only everyone was simply nice to each other."

Jessi: "It’s also problematic in that it presents only one type of “strength” as having any validity, and it’s one that’s taken wholesale from stereotypical images of masculinity – it can be interpreted as suggesting that only a traditionally male form of power has any validity, when both women and men of many different temperaments and physical skill levels could be seen as having a certain strength. (This is not to suggest that women who do battle are somehow invalidated as characters, only that they are not the only type of “strong” character deserving of respect)."

Jason Thompson on Hoshin Engi: "I love manga that are set in ancient times but the main characters' costumes are just, like, whatever. Skintight spandex leotards, men wearing high heels, enormous Mickey Mouse gloves, crazy clown suits for everyone! If someone's actually wearing period-appropriate clothing, you know they're not important."