Trash & Treasures: (American) Dark Water
This was one of the last films of the J-Horror remake boom of the early 00s. And despite being a bit of a mess, it has some genuinely ideas.
Vrai Kaiser
I'm Vrai Kaiser, writer by profession and analytic nerd for the love of the game. I've been published in online magazine The Alligator, and am currently working to get my first novel published. Here you'll find updates on my work, as well as pop culture analysis, recaps, and reviews. Commentary and requests are always welcome.
News Update
If you’re wondering where this week’s blog updates are, the answer is, “my six year old laptop is in the middle of a catastrophic meltdown, and therefore so am I.” I’ll keep you folks up to date—for now the hope is to get something new this weekend because […]
[Link] Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery Balances Ghosts and Human Horrors
The good folks at Hartlife NFP (you may remember them from Our Fair City, a show I’m very fond of) gave me some ahead of time access to the premiere of their new show. The first three episodes are out now if you wanna check it out–certainly I’d […]
Trash & Treasures: Angel Sanctuary
There’s trash and then there’s TRASH. Ah, I remember it well.
Vrai (Re)Watches Escaflowne (Part 4)
It has some spots that haven’t aged well (fantasy racism!), but this is definitely the best encapsulation of 90s anime trends and emotional beats with a minimal amount of bullshit, if you’ve ever wanted to watch something throwback. I still like it a lot.
Trash & Treasures: DEBS (w/ Alexis Sara)
The movie so nice it deserved visiting twice, with a guest who fully appreciates its charms.
Do This, Not That: Trans-Coded Characters (The Vision of Escaflowne vs Persona 4)
Representation matters. This is a fairly well-established fact, from media criticism to scientific studies. Depending on where you grow up, you might have your view of whole groups of people shaped by media before you ever meet them in person, and seeing people living different lives from yours […]
