Lois in the WSJ today
So, I got quoted in the Wall Street Journal -- about my retirement hobby, of all things. The whole article (which is actually about streaming TV; my remark is just an embellishment) is behind some sort of wall, pay or otherwise, so I'm not sure of the context in which my little sound bite is embedded, but the freelancer kindly supplied me with my bit.
(My mother's favorite paper, back when. I'm not sure if she'd have been thrilled or not. One the one hand, the WSJ. On the other, weird Japanese cartoons, which I'm pretty sure she'd have grokked even less than she did my F&SF.)
Ta, L.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-to-...
An Expert’s Pick: ‘Mushi-shi’
(Crunchyroll, Hulu)
Novelist Lois McMaster Bujold, whom the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named a Grand Master in 2019, has discovered many new favorite animated movies and TV shows since she took up streaming. Here, she shares her favorite.
“I discovered Crunchyroll—a streaming service devoted to Japanese animation and other Asian videos—about three years ago, when I first got into TV streaming with my Chromecast device, and it has provided me with far too many hours of entertainment since. It has the second season of my favorite anime series of all time, “Mushi-shi.” The show is subtle, beautiful, brilliant, and hard to describe. It follows the adventures of “Ginko,” an itinerant medicine seller who deals with supernatural problems generated by his mysterious subject of study, magical sub-life-forms dubbed mushi. The episodes are self-contained, so a viewer can just drop in and pick up the gist of it. There’s no long plot arc to follow. That said, the world-building is more smoothly taught back in season one, which you can find on Hulu.”
—CK
(My mother's favorite paper, back when. I'm not sure if she'd have been thrilled or not. One the one hand, the WSJ. On the other, weird Japanese cartoons, which I'm pretty sure she'd have grokked even less than she did my F&SF.)
Ta, L.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-to-...
An Expert’s Pick: ‘Mushi-shi’
(Crunchyroll, Hulu)
Novelist Lois McMaster Bujold, whom the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named a Grand Master in 2019, has discovered many new favorite animated movies and TV shows since she took up streaming. Here, she shares her favorite.
“I discovered Crunchyroll—a streaming service devoted to Japanese animation and other Asian videos—about three years ago, when I first got into TV streaming with my Chromecast device, and it has provided me with far too many hours of entertainment since. It has the second season of my favorite anime series of all time, “Mushi-shi.” The show is subtle, beautiful, brilliant, and hard to describe. It follows the adventures of “Ginko,” an itinerant medicine seller who deals with supernatural problems generated by his mysterious subject of study, magical sub-life-forms dubbed mushi. The episodes are self-contained, so a viewer can just drop in and pick up the gist of it. There’s no long plot arc to follow. That said, the world-building is more smoothly taught back in season one, which you can find on Hulu.”
—CK
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That's really cool. Any other shows you're enjoying on crunchyroll?
Mushishi is one of my top 10 favourite again, too! Such a beautiful look into human nature.
Patrick wrote: "That's really cool. Any other shows you're enjoying on crunchyroll?"One I rec'ced to the reporter, which didn't make his cut, was Cells At Work! which, in addition to being hilarious, teaches a lot of accurate physiology and medicine, and will give you more respect for your body's immune system. Rather apropos this month.
Beyond that, there are a dozen or so I thought really good, a number I found watch-once-able, and quite a few where two episodes of that were enough, thanks. Besides Mushi-shi, the first category includes but is not limited to Midnight Occult Civil Servants, Natsume's Book of Friends, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Utakoi, ReLife, My Roommate Is A Cat, The Morose Mononokean, Pandora Hearts, Junjo Romantica, Bleach in parts (it's ginormous), Elegant Yokai Apartment Life, Thunderbolt Fantasy (traditional Taiwanese murder muppets!) and a few more that escape me. Lately, have also rather liked ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept., The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, Hozuki's Coolheadedness, Folktales From Japan, and Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files..
There are also some which, while dreadful by any number of artistic or, er, social standards, nonetheless are doing something with their characters that draws me in. I'd put A Certain Magical Index into this category, and the very old-school (but, thus, refreshingly pantie-shot free) Kyo Kara Maoh. Namuamidabutsu! - Utena - is just strange although pretty, likewise Thermae Romae (though not pretty.) And Miracle Train is in a class by itself.
And that's certainly enough for going on with. Some Crunchyroll prizes turn out to be hidden deep in the older entries, and are not easy to find, and others I've kind of enjoyed have silently vanished off the site -- Soul Eater, Tokyo Ravens -- so one never knows what one is going to get from the grab bag.
Ta, L.
Soul Eater can be found on Funimation, another anime streaming service.
Huh. Well, congrats, I guess. They did spell your name right!
Lois, as a sf/f fan who also lives anime & manga, I love reading your manga reviews here on Goodreads, and knowing your anime recs is great, too! Thanks so much for posting your portion here, so those of us without WSJ accounts can read them, too.(And I agree, Cells at Work is hilarious!)
Your pick is the "offbeat sci-fi". :)