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.
The intro is here. We’ve come to the first big hurdle of the series, as far as a lot of longtime Lupin fans are concerned. It’s all well and good to see darker, noir tinted versions of hitmen and thieves, but things get a bit harder to swallow […]
The idea of changing showrunners is usually enough to send ripples of terror through a series’ viewing audience, often with at least one reference to sharks. Very occasionally it can pull a failing series out of a spiral, at least for a while. Conventional knowledge states that […]
The intro is here. For the sake of mental shorthand, I tend to file this episode as “Goemon vs the virgin/whore dichotomy.” That’s not exactly marketable, but it gives the episode more credit than most reviewers usually do (take a drink every time a review refers to the […]
I adore listening in on the evolution of western cartoons. Dismissed at best and actively reviled at worst, they’ve long been the cultural dumping ground of toy advertisements, Very Special Episodes, and the assumption of an extremely stupid viewership. And while it is quietly ignored, it begins to […]
The intro is here. This week’s episode is pretty true to form and self-contained, since its main contribution to the overall plot is introducing Jigen. But there’s a thing or two we can talk about anyway. Episode Specifics: After pushing her luck a bit too far at a […]
When it comes to film, there are few things that fill my heart with joy as quickly as a dance scene. And while this goes a long way to explaining my adoration of musicals, there’s a special place in my heart for non-musical films that proclaim ‘sit down […]
The intro is here. And here do we take our first revisiting steps into the world of Fujiko Mine. The first episode lays its cards quite plainly on the table, flashing enough skin and flair to keep you from noticing, just enough like what you might call a […]
Okay kids, who can tell me about the purpose and usage of narrative parallels? Get back here As I was saying, narrative parallelism is when you use two similar moments, characters, etc. to induce a revelation in character or audience. This can range from a chick-flick type moment, […]
Those who’ve found themselves hanging around this blog for a while (or for more than a few minutes, really) are generally made aware of two things: I’ve got that English major itch to analyze, whether it’s putting work in a new context or just bringing out a mad […]
Of the many things that are shaping up to be intriguing about nascent auteur Sayo Yamamoto’s work, foremost among them is her portrayal of women. That is to say, her works are populated with female characters from a Technicolor spectrum of personality and purpose, varied and deftly shaded […]
