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Review: Blood on the Tracks by Shuzo Oshimi

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  I wasn't planning to write a review of Shuzo Oshimi's Blood on the Tracks. I wasn't planning to read Shuzo Oshimi's Blood on the Tracks. Borrowing its title from a Bob Dylan album that has absolutely nothing to do with the story, Blood on the Tracks is a psychological horror series about a 14-year-old boy and his "overprotective" mother. I knew about the plot of the first volume going into this. As a horror fan, I've heard about this series for years. As a person diagnosed with panic disorder, I'm reluctant to engage with stories that do a really good job of conveying what it feels like to experience intense psychological trauma. I had been informed that this was such a story and avoided it.  Then my wife purchased the first two volumes and read them both in about 30 minutes. After reading them, she walked to my desk and told me I had to read them immediately. It was very quickly apparent that Oshimi is one of, if not the, most talented horror artist...
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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Manga Spoiler Review

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First and foremost, as the title suggests, there will be spoilers for the entirety of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series. This is a review about the manga, not the anime adaptation. The manga has been finished for almost 2-years at this point, but I know there are people who may stumble upon this only having watched the anime which is ongoing. If you’re interested in whether or not I liked it without getting into spoilers. The short version of this review is that I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5, but expect the anime to be a 4.5 out of 5. I like the story, but there were some missed opportunities to make me love the story. The author seemed uninterested in several key plot threads which leads to an underwhelming conclusion that lacks the impressive visuals that ufotable has brought to the animation. If you scroll past this image then you enter into spoiler territory. The Shonen Manga Grading Curve The mission of Words About Books is to read a lot and to read widely for the purpose of ...
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You should read (or watch) Oshi no Ko [推しの子]

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  This picture is a lie. The smile, the wink, the star in her eye, the candy colors suggesting sweet innocence and youthful energy. They are all lies. The girl in this picture is Ai Hoshino and she is an idol. In the Japanese entertainment industry "idols" are essentially pop stars, usually part of a themed group. They are called idols because these young women's job is to be idolized.  Idol fans are demanding and unforgiving. They crave an object of worship, an embodiment of innocence, cuteness, and dare I say...moe. To fans, idols are both more and less than human. In exchange for their adoration, idol fans demand a perfect lie. It is career suicide for an idol to have a public, romantic relationship. The illusion of purity would be forever shattered. If your idol belongs to someone else then she cannot ever belong to you. Heaven forbid an idol have a child, let alone two children, out of wedlock, at the age of 16.  This is the predicament that Ai Hoshino finds herself ...
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