Eureka Seven: Summer of Love

Synopsis: "Renton Thurston is a 14-year-old boy who lived with his mechanic grandfather in a backwater town. Every day he dreamed of being with the mercenary "Light Finding Operation (LFO)" aircraft pilot group "Gekkostate" and riding "Trapar" particle waves-- a sport called "reffing"-- with their charismatic leader Holland, especially when faced with his father's acclaimed past or his grandfather's desire to protect him. When a young girl named Eureka riding the original LFO, the "Nirvash typeZERO", asks his grandfather for a tune-up, she inadvertently brings the attention of the military to the garage; as a result, the garage is destroyed and Renton is forced to deliver a new type of interface-- the "Amita Drive"-- to the Nirvash. After a heated fight in which the Nirvash destroys the military LFOs by unleashing an immense amount of power, Renton is invited into Gekkostate. However, he quickly realizes that behind the facade of a traveling group of mercenaries is a very bitter reality." Source

Eureka Seven is one of my new favorite animes. In fact, I'd rate it as my number two anime. The main reason for this is that Eureka Seven finally scratched a big anime "itch" of mine, namely a story with a well-developed romantic relationship. Most animes I have seen stop short of characters actually coming out and saying "I love you." Instead, in anime, if two characters (especially if they are the main characters) are obviously a couple the best you are likely to get is them asserting that the other character is their "most important person" or maybe they just hold hands during the climax of the show. Rarely do we get to see the characters say the three magic words in the middle of the show and actually view them in a relationship outside of a rushed five minute anime ending. There is an entire genre of anime based on Japanese "dating games" that focus exclusively on character relationships, but from what I know about them (no I don't watch these kinds of animes) they tend on the melodramatic side and the personalities of the characters almost always conform to particular archetypes that Japanese dating game fans expect. In short, they are poorly written. Also, I take issues with these shows because I don't just want a love story, I want a love story taking place in a larger world with a larger story. However, political anime political dramas such as Gundam typically just can't make themselves take a romantic relationship anywhere meaningful.

I have my theories about why this is the case. From my understanding of Japanese culture, the Japanese are much more reserved in their relationships, at least in theory. I'm not sure if in real life they are actually reserved about expressing romantic love or if it is just their culture idolizes reserved romantic feelings. This is probably why in Gundam SEED, the two "purest" characters, Kira and Lacus, who obviously harbor feelings for each other and are a perfect match never express their feelings verbally and the only physical expression is a kiss on the cheek and an occasional hug. The Japanese just really appreciate these two "pure" characters being modest and shy in their romantic relationship. Another reason is that in a move to cater to fans, anime writers often like to keep romantic relationships ambiguous so that fans who like to imagine their two favorite characters are romantically involved can do that without the show outright saying that it isn't going to happen. A great recent example of this is Code Geass, where the main character Lelouch has three important potential love interests in his life, but never commits to any of them, despite the fact that he obviously cares about all three of them.

Eureka Seven however doesn't tease us like this. From the beginning of the show the main character, Renton, is open with his feelings about the female lead Eureka. While it starts as puppy love, by midway through the show they and everyone around them acknowledge that they are in the relationship. Because there is still half a show left we actually get to see their ups and downs as Renton and Eureka cope with Eureka's past and role in the larger story. One fault that may or may not bother you is that Eureka Seven chooses not to deal with the more physical side of their relationship. They kiss from time to time, but the show never comes very close to dealing with any sexual pressures between them (except as a joke in a single episode). Personally, that's fine with me, because shows that deal with teenage sex always inevitably love to deal with teenage pregnancy and that's not what Eureak Seven is about, although there is an adult pregnancy by the end. And seriously, who wants to think much about two 14 year olds "getting physical" or having sex?

In all this talk about Renton and Eureka's relationship, I have barely mentioned that there is a larger story going on. It involves the Gekkostate, the organization Renton joins early in the show, which functions as both a group of rebels against the military and a counter-culture group trying to spread the truth of what the Eureka Seven world government is REALLY up to. Many of the mysteries of the show revolve around the leader of Gekkostate, Holland, and why he quit his job as a special forces member and now leads a small rebellion.

I can't say that the larger events that drive Eureka Seven are anything particularly special (although they will keep you guessing a little), but notice that I mentioned how the Gekkostate is a counter-culture group. You often hear counter-culture associated with the 1960's. Eureka Seven is in love with the culture of 1960's and early 1970's. Many of the character and episode names reference this time, in fact the subtitle of this review "Summer of Love" is a historic world-shaking event in Eureka Seven. The clothing and hairstyles occasionally seem to be derived from the time period as well. The Gekkostate itself almost functions as a group of environmentalists standing against an abusive military. It almost sounds like an anime version of Vietnam War protesting.

Eureka Seven is also a mecha show, so there is typically an action sequence in every episode if you are one of those people that has to have pure action from time to time. However, it really just plays second fiddle to the various character relationships in the show. Renton and Eureka aren't the only characters trying to get a grip on their emotions and the show has a large cast.

In the end, Eureka Seven is a show that covers a lot of territory being simultaneously a teenage love story, coming of age story, political drama, mecha, and an anime where there are a lot of older "adult" characters running around coping with pasts that they aren't always proud of. It has something good for everyone to enjoy and if you are an anime fan looking for a show where a meaningful well-written romantic relationship is fully dealt with (minus sex), Eureka Seven is THE show to watch. Maybe if I watch it enough times, it'll replace Gundam SEED as my favorite anime.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Believe in the Sign of Zeta

Synopsis: "The year is Universal Century 0087. Seven years have passed since the end of the One Year War. In its zeal to stamp out any remaining opposition, the Earth Federation has organized the Titans, an elite fighting force. However, the Titans soon get out of hand, committing atrocities on par with the worst the Principality of Zeon had to offer during the war. In response, dissatisified citizens, former Zeon soldiers, and even members of the Earth Federal Forces form a resistance group known as the Anti-Earth Union Group, or AEUG. As the next war is brewing, a small AEUG group arrives at Side 7 to investigate the new Gundam Mk. II..." Source

Within the Gundam fan community, there are those who absolutely cannot stand Gundam SEED. When asked about what Gundam they like they often cite Zeta Gundam. Seeing the show hailed as the best Gundam time and again instead of my personal favorite, SEED, I finally took the time (and money) to sit down and watch it. I don't think Gundam SEED has anything to worry about, although Zeta isn't bad. But it also has some problems, which I'll discuss.

First however, the good things about Zeta. The main character, Kamille, sort of has a reputation for being an antagonizing jerk to those around him. Normally, this would be an annoying problem. While he is certainly like that during the first quarter of the show, by the end he is one of the most steady and level-headed of the show's younger cast members, although he retains his characteristic temper. This is a plus, because we see him develop from a young hothead into a character that we can admire. The show manages this by showing him taken in under various mentors, first Char Aznable, then Amuro Ray, and finally Bright Noa. These three mentors are main characters from the original Mobile Suit Gundam show. This was a great way to let the old cast members get some screen time for their fans, while at the same time not steal the spotlight from Kamille. Compare this to a show like Gundam SEED Destiny where the new cast members have the spotlight stolen from them by SEED's original cast with the new cast effectively functioning as the show's villains.

Another improvement from Gundam SEED and other newer Gundam shows such as Gundam Wing is that the heroes of Zeta never acquire mobile suits so powerful as to guarantee them an easy victory. By the end of Gundam SEED, Kira and Athrun could defeat entire armies by themselves. In Zeta, even after Kamille acquires the titular Zeta Gundam, he seems to just be on par with his enemies at best. He is often required to work with his teammates and to use cover and tactics in order to defeat his enemies rather than simply pushing a button that launches laser beams everywhere guaranteeing an easy win. This keeps the battles exciting throughout the entire 50 episodes of the show.

However, once we start talking about excitement outside of battles, Zeta Gundam begins to falter. Many of the episodes involve the crew of Kamille's ship, the Argama, attempting to get from point A to point B. Inevitably in every episode, Kamille's enemies, the Titans, attack the ship and he is forced to defend it. While a lot of Gundams do this (SEED, SEED Destiny, Gundam 00) it can get annoying as sometimes the destination can be a little vague. I found myself quickly tiring of this formula after about 15 episodes. I wanted more politics, exploring the motivations and policies of both the AEUG, the Titans, and later the Zeon Axis members. Often, the Titans would attack a space colony, and we would never see their leaders discussing exactly why such a decision had been made. Another example would be how the Zeon Axis betrays the Titans, meets the Titans in order to ally with them, betrays them again, then attempts to ally with them once again (of course betraying them once again!). Because we never see the Titans discussing why they keep attempting to ally with the Zeon Axis forces after these betrayals, they come out looking kind of gullible and outright dumb. The show tends to focus purely on action, and I had to fill in a lot of these blanks for myself.

As you can probably gather, Zeta Gundam is best at action. However, even the action misses easy opportunities for drama. Often, the Argama and Kamille will be plagued by the same enemy commander for 3 or 4 episodes. Inevitably, that enemy commander will meet his doom when his time to leave the show comes. However, we never get any exploration of these commanders, never knowing who they are and why they are fighting for the Titans. This ensures that their deaths mean nothing to us no matter how dramatic the music or scene. Surely the show could have spared a few minutes for the enemy to think about his wife and family and what events in his life spurred him to join an oppressive regime bent on bringing the Earth Sphere firmly to heel. Gundam is touted by many fans as a series that always humanizes and characterizes the warriors on all sides of the wars its plots center upon. However, Zeta fails to do this more than any other Gundam show I've seen. The Titans in Zeta all thirst for simple power or glory it seems.

In the end, Zeta is definitely a fun show to watch. There are a few good emotional moments, but action is always its primary focus. Most of the show will keep you interested, except possibly the episodes in the first half that take place on Earth. I found myself kind of bored and annoyed with them. If you are a Gundam fan, Zeta is pretty much required watching. Otherwise, if you don't like mecha anime or Gundam in particular, avoid it, although you'd probably already do that without me telling you. I myself prefer Gundam SEED, the king of drama in the Gundam universe, or if I need a politics fix, Gundam Wing or Gundam 00. If you tire of these kind of shows and just want to see some cool mech fights, you can't really go wrong with Zeta though.

Doctor Zhivago: Revolution Ain't Cheap

Synopsis: "This famous novel of the Russian revolution and Civil War became a cause celebre when its publication was cancelled by Soviet authorities and Pasternak had the manuscript smuggled out of the country for publication. Doctor Zhivago was cited by the Swedish Academy when it awarded Pasternak the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 (an award that Pasternak refused, under pressure from the Soviet government).

The controversy surrounding the novel's publication and the notoriety of the David Lean's popular film adaptation of the novel have obscured the quality of the work itself. Simply stated, Doctor Zhivago is one of the most powerful books published in the 20th century and will be read long after the memory of its publication history has faded; it not only brings the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet era to life, it tells the stories of some of the most memorable characters to be found in all of literature." Source


Doctor Zhivago has a lot going for it on several levels, which is probably why its author was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. For history buffs, it is an entertaining way to learn about what the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War were like for the average people on the ground just trying to survive. For those who enjoy romance, there are several overlapping love triangles that form the backbone of the plot. For those who read serious books looking for weighty human emotion, Doctor Zhivago won't disappoint you. And finally, for those would-be social revolutionaries, Doctor Zhivago provides a cautionary tale.

After hearing Ursula Le Guin speak about Zhivago on NPR's "Books You Must Read" segment, I became interested in Zhivago due to the "serious books" angle. I'm always up for any good Russian novels as in my words "Those commies know how to write." From the Dostoevsky I've read, Zhivago, and what I remember of Anna Karenina, I've came to the conclusion that the classic Russian authors just have a lot of skill at capturing the human condition. Perhaps it is their willingness to juggle large varied casts. When your plot isn't relying on action or isn't a quest novel, you tend to have to ramp up the number of characters and their relationships with one another in order to keep readers interested. This tends to magnify the "humanity factor" of the work.

What I'll end up remembering from Zhivago the most though is the history and the masterful showing of the price of social revolution. It can be easy to become so frustrated with government or people as to want to scrap the existing order and build a new one. Zhivago lets us would-be social revolutionaries experience the costs of a massive political and social upheaval through the Russian Revolution without having to go through the pain and agony of it ourselves. Instead, we see the noble character, Yuri Zhivago, become separated from both of the women he loves
and his life change from that of a prosperous middle class doctor to that of a destitute homeless man due to events that are primarily out of his control, although he supports the Revolution initially, being willing to sacrifice his comfortable life if it betters the life of his fellow Russians.

If you enjoy stories that are pure drama, Zhivago is a solid win. Doctor Zhivago is yet another book (much like The Brothers Karamazov) that I wish had been taught in at my high school.

World War Z: More Sophisticated Than You'd Expect

Synopsis: "Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus." Source

World War Z is one of the few books I DIDN'T hear about through word of mouth and just happened to pick up at the bookstore due to the interesting title. "A book about a zombie war! How awesomely hilarious!" were my thoughts after reading the back cover. Well, World War Z IS awesome, just not necessarily in a hilarious kind of way. World War Z has ended up being the best book I've read this year.

The book takes the form of a collection of interviews taken from those who survived the fictitious global zombie war. This strategy suceeds on several levels. Brooks gives us interviews with people from all walks of life, all across the globe. By doing this, Brooks is able to cover within 300 pages the entire duration of a war that lasted around 10 years, if my memory serves. That is a feat within itself. We see the military tactics and strategy shift from being targeted at living, breathing opponents for whom fear is a motivator, to the undead who can only annihilated and not reasoned with or scared into peace.

However, don't think this is some kind of military/zombie movie fan's dream come true. Most of the book focuses on those who were civilians before and during outbreak of the war. We see how the zombie war completely changed the lives of individuals and society. We also get a very clear view of the fear and panic that gripped people as the zombie plague spread across the globe. The ineptitude of the government's initial response and the greed of those who seek to profit from the uncertainty and confusion will ring true for anyone who pays attention to the real news.

The ultimate reason I would classify World War Z as "great" book rather than an "entertaining," or simply "good," book is the sincere human emotion that pervades it. What comes through in the interviews with these characters are the same hopes, fears, sorrows, and anger that are part of daily life, as cliche as this sounds. As the book's setting is the modern, globalized world, it is quite easy to relate to the characters and events within it, even if it does center around a zombie war. I'd recommend this book to anyone who can cope with zombies in their books as the zombie war simply provides the conflict necessary to explore the feelings of the characters. In short, World War Z isn't what you'd expect from an author whose previous book was "The Zombie Survival Guide," a sort of satire of zombie movie conventions and cliches. I hope to see more books like World War Z from Mr. Brooks in the future.

Le Chevalier D'Eon: Interesting political intrigue, ultimately forgetabble

Synopsis: "During the time when Louis XV still ruled France, a certain woman was found dead in the coffin floating through the Seine river. D'Eon, the woman's brother, determines to seach for the killer of his sister, Lia. But there are some strange movements in France. And things become more strange when Lia's soul enters D'Eon's body..." Source

The first thing you are going to have to get past in Le Chevalier D'Eon is that the main character, D'Eon, occasionally changes genders when he is possessed by his sister. He also dresses up as a woman occasionally in order to bring out her spirit or in order to perform his duties as a spy in the king's service. Things get a little murky as he and his sister come closer and closer to just merging together into one person. It's tastefully done so unless you are just really sensitive to gender-bending in anime, it shouldn't be a problem.

Perhaps the main draw of the show is that it attempts to tie historical events that really happened and people that really existed into a historical fantasy story that involves a conspiracy to overthrow monarchy on a global level using magic as an explanation for the French Revolution. At the beginning of the show it was fairly cool. We basically get a historical spy show where the main character occasionally changes into his sister. As someone who has had a French history course that actually covered the era, I must warn you that Le Chevalier definetly takes liberties with history, but really, who cares? Le Chevalier manages to get the general "feel" of the period right. At the time, France was changing from a country of people who pledged loyalty to the French king to a nation of people dedicated to the idea of the French homeland and people. This manages to come up in the story as some characters are willing to give up their noble status for the sake of the betterment of the nation and its people while others cling tightly to their inherited positions, unable to cope with a world that would render their position irrelevant.

My favorite part of the show is when the cast travels to Russia in order to track down a lead and end up assisting the Russian Empress. Le Chevalier is the only anime I've seen that manages to have the kind of political intrigue I expect from a Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin novel. Besides moral ambiguity, political intrigue is another thing I love in my fiction, so I was very pleased that an anime finally stepped up to the plate.

However, several reasons ultimately make Chevalier forgetabble. Number one, the ending is really rushed. They do a stereotypical anime thing and wait until the last episode to tie up all the plot threads, several mysteries, and even throw in some new surprises just for the hell of it. I ended up feeling they had plot twists that are somewhat confusing and don't make perfect sense just for the sake of having plot twists. This makes the show feel poorly plotted, especially when we take into consideration a few events that happen that never seem to be explained (why Elizaveta's blood was useful for opening up the Royal Psalms is one if you've seen the show). Number two, some of the cast falls a little flat, namely the main character. D'Eon is that nice sort of quiet anime guy we've seen before. His real "conflict" is dealing with his sister's spirit that is full of rage, as opposed to any interesting internal conflict that he himself has. Third, the show suffers from poor action scenes. Every time the cast started sword fighting, I could just feel the animators not really knowing how to animate fencing scenes well that could be "anime cool." They got better as the show went on, but the sword fighting animation is just terrible at the beginning. In the later part of the shows when magic duels are occuring, the characters are typically just chanting Psalms from the Bible at each other while latin phrases scroll through the air. It just gets a little silly after awhile and isn't very exciting as the characters aren't really paying much attention to one another.

Le Chevalier isn't bad and has some new ideas that I applaud, but isn't going to be a favorite of mine due to its lack of emotional intensity. The show never really raised my pulse like the last anime I watched (Eureka Seven). The main cast just did not really appeal to me although they get a little better at the end. The most interesting characters were often the side characters.I feel like it squandered some of its potential in order to focus more on plot twists that really didn't make a lot of sense. If you really like political intrigue or like history you'll get something out of it, otherwise don't bother.

Gundam SEED: My favorite anime of all-time

Synopsis: "Heliopolis, a so-called neutral space colony was holding a top-secret weapons research facility, producing Gundams for the Earth Alliance. ZAFT, which is composed of Coordinators (genetically modified/upgraded humans), attacks Heliopolis, stealing 4 out of the Alliance's 5 Gundams. In the battlefield, civilian Kira Yamato stumbles upon the Strike, the last remaining Gundam of the alliance, and is forced to pilot it. In the midst of battle he encounters his best friend, Athrun Zala, as one of the hijackers of the 5 Gundams, who sides with ZAFT. Being a Coordinator, he is the only one who can pilot the Gundam. But Kira is not with ZAFT, even though they're his own kind, nor the Alliance. Since the Alliance is the only place he could turn to at the time, he sides with them. He pilots the Gundam to protect his friends, and to fight his best friend, which pains both of them. It's a war between individual beliefs." Source

I originally wrote a tribute to Gundam SEED and how much I love it as a reader response over on the "Hey Answerman!" column on Anime News Network. If you want to read it just go here and do a find on Ryan. This review will be an expansion of that to discuss in more depth what I love about SEED and perhaps some counters to common criticisms against it. I won't be discussing SEED Destiny in this post, SEED's inferior sequel that has its really good moments, but has a horde of problems in plotting.

Where to start on the reasons I like SEED? First off, the initial hook for me and SEED was the concept of the two friends on the opposite side of a war fighting each other. I had a similar short story idea (now a concept for a novel) before I ever saw SEED, and I was instantly interested to see how they chose to execute the idea. For a large part of SEED, the emotional heart of the story centers around the conflict between Kira and Athrun. It works quite well. Although Athrun's side ends up looking more like the "bad guys" because the writers chose Kira as protagonist, both Kira and Athrun have completely understandable reasons they are in the war between the Earth and ZAFT forces. What we get are two characters who are what I like to call "thoughtfully righteous." Each character strives to do the right thing, but each suffers a lot of angst and confusion as they are both thoughtful enough to see the other character's side. If you are like me, you practically thrive on this sort of moral grayness in fiction.

However, I think this sort of "thoughtful righteousness" is where SEED fails for SEED's detractors. I have seen Kira and Athrun called "emo," "gay," or "whiny." Does Kira cry and brood after he is forced into combat with Athrun? Yes. But the question shouldn't be whether this is unmanly or whiny, the proper question is "Is this realistic?" Let's see. Kira is a 16 year old civilian who suddenly finds himself forced to fight his childhood friend and to become a killer. Assuming you can swallow the circumstances that lead to this (and if you want to like anime you had better get used to this kind of setup), I don't find Kira's reactions unrealistic at all. If Kira simply embraced the combat and gave no second thought to battling Athrun, he would seem almost inhuman. If Athrun the more experienced soldier gave no thought to his conflict with Kira, he would just seem like the stereotypical military robot soldier that simply follows orders. From a good writing standpoint that would be a failure and it would completely destroy the emotional core and theme of the story.

I think in the end, Kira and Athrun are characters that some viewers would not want as friends due to their constant angst over whether they are doing the right thing. However, they'd probably be glad to have their daughters date someone like them. I personally think the world could use more thoughtful people like them, even if they don't always agree. My ability to relate to Kira and Athrun is one of the major reasons I like them, and by extension, their show so much.

Aside from the "concept" of Gundam SEED, I also really enjoy its main theme, that being that war causes people to kill because those they care about are killed by the other side resulting in an endless spiral of hatred, conflict, and death. SEED proposes that we all need to take a step back and try to understand our enemy and see us as he sees us if we are ever to achieve peace. You can quickly see how Kira and Athrun's conflict ties into this theme along with the events of the larger war that is occurring around theme. As anyone casually familiar with Gundam knows, a Gundam show always has an anti-war theme while being immersed in the middle of it.

You perhaps may be saying right now, "But Ryan! Are concept and theme really the only reasons Gundam SEED is your favorite anime?" Why no! Perhaps the most important part of Gundam SEED is its ability to achieve an emotional intensity that most animes can't hope to follow. As anyone who has SEED can tell you, Kira and Athrun's final duel is unforgettable. There is a scene between Cagalli and Athrun where they argue about the continual escalation of the war that is perhaps the best voice acting I have ever heard. Also, many of the scenes involving Kira and Fllay will get your feelings roiling if you are the type who gets as emotionally invested in fiction as I do. There are various other scenes, but you'll just have to watch SEED for yourself. SEED has a LOT of scenes that will have your heart racing, and I can't really convey the awesomeness of this in a simple review.

For me, Gundam SEED has it all. The emotional core of the story sucks you in. The theme is poignant. The scenes are unforgettable. One detail I'm sort of leaving it out is that all this is occurring during the middle of a war where we also get scenes with side characters engaged in politics. In short, if you are looking for a good war story that has something to say, you could do far worse than Gundam SEED. If you need an emotionally dead protagonist who is simply a killing machine, go back to playing Gears of War or Doom or something.

Welcome to Synthesis of the Arts

My name is Ryan and this is my blog where I primarily intend to review works of fiction including books, anime, movies, and video games. Why? Because I enjoy to think, talk, and write about things I like, and I also enjoy putting things into a list like form. Reviewing and critiquing fiction combines both of these. I have a large backlog of stuff I'd like to talk about and bring to your attention if you were unaware of it, so my goal is to post a review every week or so. The name "Synthesis of the Arts" is the coolest translation I could find for the German word Gesamtkunstwerk a Wagnerian concept that I really like.

A little background about me. I am a professional programmer who only recently graduated from North Carolina State's computer science undergrad program. It pays well for my lifestyle, and I enjoy it. I aspire to eventually become a writer, hopefully combining the freedom of fantasy with the kind of psychological explorations of good and evil that you may know from authors such as Dostoevsky. I'll have more to say about him in some future post.

Now, why should you bother reading this? Odds are you somehow know me personally. Otherwise, I like to think I have a fairly unique perspective due to my combination of fictional interests. I like stereotypical geeky things like fantasy and sci-fi books, anime, and Japanese made video games. However, if you looked at my favorite literary works, most of them AREN'T that kind of stuff (Dostoevsky, Ayn Rand's works, Shakespeare are some of my favorite). I tend to not like the geeky stuff unless it somehow explores human emotion in a meaningful fashion in addition to its cool fantasy/sci-fi stuff, whereas a more ponderous work of "literature" had better have an interesting storyline in addition to its melodrama if I'm going to be fan.