Author: Jonathan Clements
November 16, 2023 · 1 comment
Books: The Japan Lights
By Jonathan Clements. Scottish-born Iain Maloney writes of the way that he always needs a body of water somewhere nearby to feel grounded, to know which way is up. Living and working in Japan’s landlocked Gifu prefecture, he becomes aware that many of Japan’s early modern coastal defences, including a ring of vital lighthouses, were […]
November 13, 2023 · 0 comments
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
By Andrew Osmond. War wracks you with terrible transformations, and turns you into a monster. To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts takes place in an alternate America, renamed Patria, and begins in the fire of its civil war. In this world, the Southerners are winning, their firepower reducing the enemy to bloody meat (it’s plain from […]
November 10, 2023 · 0 comments
Manga: The Witch of Thistle Castle
By Shelley Pallis. Of all the cities in the world where a witch might be able to blend in, Edinburgh is probably a prime candidate. Marie Blackwood is the “Black Witch of Albion”, a notorious sorceress who may be much older than she looks, who tries to maintain a low profile by running a magic […]
November 7, 2023 · 0 comments
Japan: Myths to Manga
By Helen McCarthy. Young V&A, formerly the Museum of Childhood, opened its doors again on 1st July 2023 after a revamp that took seven years to plan and design. This is its first exhibition since the opening, and every aspect of its presentation and marketing has been engineered to establish itself with its target audience […]
November 2, 2023 · 0 comments
Paprika
By Andrew Osmond. If you want a soundbite that describes Paprika fairly well, an obvious one would be “Spirited Away for adults.” Okay, that’s patronising, as Spirited Away was perfectly able to appeal to adults too. A better tag for this similarly dazzling dream-fantasy would be “Spirited Away with adults.” That’s true both in that […]