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Dear Hongrang K-Comic Review
Dark, bitter, and intermittently hopeful, Dokjin and Hottu's adaptation of Jang Dahye's original novel pulls you in, even if none of those flavors are your preferred reading, making it nearly impossible to put down.
― Complete at sixty episodes (chapters), Dear Hongrang is a journey. Apart from flashbacks, the prologue, and the epilogue, the entire story takes place over one brief summer during the J...
BET Live-Action Streaming Series Review
Bet is not a real show, not one worth watching as a curiosity for Kakegurui fans, nor for people just looking for entertaining TV, trashy or otherwise.
― Westernized takes on Japanese media are hardly anything new. They've been around from The Magnificent Seven to The Ring—go ask what the original Star Wars was based on sometime. So something that might seem so profoundly anime in its iteration as Ka...
A Wild Last Boss Appeared! Light Novel Volume 1 Review
I was on board with the gender bender premise, but I found it lacking when it came down to the execution.
― The biggest shocker of A Wild Last Boss Appeared! is that it won a major award. In the author's note, Firehead expresses their surprise that this story they serialized on an amateur web novel site got a book deal—and a manga and anime after that. Believe me, I'm just as surprised. In such a cro...
Does It Count If You Lose Your Virginity to an Android? Volume 1 Manga Review
This manga asks and answers the question “What if the loveable loser in a sexbot comedy was a woman?” The answer won’t surprise you.
― If you've been reading manga for any length of time, you've probably encountered some version of the hapless, yet relatable, loser protagonist. He's a guy with no friends and a weird hobby, or the woman who looks super cool and together on the outside, but when she st...
Nasu: Summer in Andalusia Anime Film Blu-Ray Review
Nasu: Summer in Adalusia finally makes its way to English speaking audiences, and it was well worth the wait.
― Chances are, relatively few people reading this have heard of Nasu: Summer in Andalusia before. Despite being the first anime film ever accepted to Cannes and its stylistic resemblance to world-famous Ghibli films, which were finally receiving wider international recognition when it came ou...
Night of the Living Cat Volume 1 Manga Review
This manga has an amusing idea that could make for a funny one-shot manga or a spoof trailer, but feels ludicrously overstretched here.
― Night of the Living Cat will soon hit the screens as an anime series in July, with at least one huge name attached: Takashi Miike, on board as the “Chief Director.” You may know Miike from the live-action films of Ichi The Killer and other manga. I'll always rememb...
Ado SPECIAL LIVE "Shinzou" in Cinema Concert Film Review
There's no auto-tune or post-production magic here. For over two hours, Ado belts out one high-energy song after another, showing off her range and power without somehow destroying her voice in the process.
― While this may be shown on the big screen, Ado SPECIAL LIVE "Shinzou" in Cinema is, for all intents and purposes, your typical concert recording. There's no attempt at weaving a story around the...
I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class Anime Series Reeview
This is a rom-com without any fancy frills, yet doesn’t come off as too cliche or trite for its own good either.
― I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class gives you exactly what you expect, but honestly? What you get is something that for the most part delivers. Its premise is simple and to the point, and it's filled with rom-com tropes that are put to good use, even if they never amount to ...
Dra-Q Volumes 1-2 Manga Review
Dra-Q is a hard series to recommend with its skin-deep characters and a plot that sometimes feels like the creator was just flying by the seat of their pants.
― Kodansha's copy for Dra-q, Chiyo's dark comedy/romance/horror manga series, says that it's perfect for fans of Dandadan and Call of the Night. While I wouldn't necessarily agree with the latter – the only real commonality they share is vampir...
SHIROHIYO - Reincarnated as a Neglected Noble Episodes 1-5 Anime Review
Shirohiyo has just enough charm to go down easily, a standard isekai showing that sometimes describing a series that way isn’t automatically an insult.
― In the crowded anime landscape, it's easy to forget that “standard” doesn't immediately equal “bad.” That's especially true of isekai titles, where the word is just as often used as shorthand for “creatively bankrupt.” I certainly am not exempt from...
The 13th Footprint Volume 1 Manga Review
The 13th Footprint’s first volume is mainly a setup, but it’s a lesson in how to do it well.
― While nothing else he's created has quite lived up to Erased's level of excellence, it's not for lack of trying on Kei Sanbe's part – both of the other mystery titles previously released, Island in a Puddle and For the Kid I Saw in my Dreams are very good. But The 13th Footprint's first volume comes closest...
They Were Eleven Manga Review
They Were Eleven is indisputably a classic, a beautiful example of how manga can transcend literary snobbery to be classified as literature in its own right.
― Of all classic shōjo manga creators, Moto Hagio has had the most success in English. Part of the Year 24 Group, which includes Keiko Takemiya (To Terra…), Riyoko Ikeda (The Rose of Versailles), and Yasuko Aoike (From Eroica with Love), Hagio h...
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu Novel Two Review
This book solidifies Lyu as the best girl in the franchise.
― This review will contain spoilers for the Astrea Record novels, novel 18 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, and season five of the Danmachi anime. I'm not sure that Fujino Omori ever intended for Lyu Leon's background to be as significant as it is. In the early novels of the larger Danmachi series, the tragic tale of Astr...
Dogsred Volumes 1-2 Manga Review
I can't wait for more people to discover this absolute slapshot of a classic in the making.
― About thirty-five years ago, a young mangaka from Kagoshima took Japan by storm with a little story about a relatively obscure sport—basketball. Fast-forward to today, it's pretty safe to say that this artist's love letter to shooting hoops became something of a Slam Dunk with its readers. While reading thro...
Yes! Precure 5 Episodes 1-24 Anime Review
With a good first half to a seminal series, this is likely to appeal to classic magical girl fans in general, even if you’ve never watched a Precure series before.
― In the history of Precure, Yes! Precure 5 is particularly important. This fourth series, which introduces the third set of Cures, is the first to feature more than two officially-named Cures (Shiny Luminous doesn't have “Cure” in her tit...
I'm a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic Anime Series Review
The plot is unoriginal, the characters forgettable, and the storytelling itself is bound and determined to keep things as void of narrative tension as possible.
― I'll be the first to admit that it's generally in bad taste to compare one work of fiction to another while reviewing it. After all, each is an individual work of art that has unique points, even if they use the same basic tropes or general...
The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse Volume 1 Manga Review
The Color of the End is one of the stronger “girls after the apocalypse” manga out there, more bitter than sweet and filled to the brim with loneliness.
― “Girls after the apocalypse” has become a subgenre of post-apocalyptic fiction. Whether alone, in pairs, or with their pets, young women traversing a ruined world have carved a niche in science fiction manga and anime, perhaps relying on the juxtap...
Devil May Cry Animated Series Review
Rather than doing just the bare minimum with fun fights and explosive action, Devil May Cry also explores concepts like xenophobia, religious zealotry, and the difficulty of accepting when you are wrong.
― The Devil May Cry game series has built itself on over-the-top action, demonic invasions, and pithy one-liners. Netflix's Devil May Cry certainly does the same. However, unlike the 2007 anime serie...
The Lady and Her Butler Volumes 1-3 K-Comic Review
The real impetus behind the plot is Taesoo and Sooha’s traumas and how they shape their lives and relationships with others.
― There's a difference between being asexual and being sex averse, although it isn't one that many people understand. Jade's webtoon The Lady and Her Butler is not one of them. Protagonist Sooha Lim is sex averse, meaning that she finds sex repulsive while being capable of sexu...
Trillion Game Episodes 14-26 Anime Review
The story’s a freewheeling mess, rushing from one mad scheme to the next, with regular daft cliffhangers and last-minute plot twists.
― When last we left would-be trillionaires Haru and Gaku, it seemed an irreparable rift had formed between them. Having unilaterally decided to use all of their company Trillion Game's available cash to buy two billion yen in entertainment company God Promo's stock, Ha...
My Kitten is a Picky Eater Volume 1 Manga Review
If you like cats and stories about people taking care of cats, My Kitten is a Picky Eater will be a purr-fect fit for you.
― If you've ever owned a pet, then you've almost certainly learned that oftentimes, the best way to their heart is, of course, through their stomach. Such is the core of Migiri Miki's My Kitten is a Picky Eater (henceforth Picky Eater), which follows a new kitten owner—Mano—whose...
Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua Part 2
Now that we've gotten the training arc of the season over with, I'm very curious to see how the main plot will end up playing out moving forward.
― Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua is definitely shaping up to be one of the strongest arcs in the entire Pokémon franchise. I already sang the praises of part one and how it established its new characters. This part focuses on how some of th...
You and Idol Precure♪ Episodes 1-12 Anime Review
We’re still in the early stages of this series, and it has plenty of room to grow.
― Wonderful Precure was always going to be a tough act to follow. That's doubly true when you add Soaring Sky! Precure, the series that preceded it, into the mix – between those two and the previous year's Delicious Party Precure, we've had three very strong seasons in the long-running franchise in a row. None of this ...
Daily Life of a Middle-Aged Online Shopper in Another World Anime Series Review
Forget exploring a new land and learning the customs of its people. No, the first order of business is flipping goods for profit in a world where you've been granted a silver spoon.
― What's the ultimate isekai fantasy? Is it slaying monsters? Obtaining magical powers? Knighted by a beautiful queen? Taking things easy, forego all that hard work and danger, and… relax in a new world? Meet hotties and ...
Ishura Season 2 Anime Series Review
The real genius of Ishura is that none of this is boring. By some stroke of demonic inspiration, every character’s backstory is compelling
― In my review of Ishura's first half last year, I wrote, “The one thing that frustrates me most about Ishura is that its promised tournament to decide the “True Hero" doesn't even begin during this season, which means the entire thing is but a prologue to the rea...
Shimazaki in the Land of Peace Volume 1 Manga Review
Every time I turned the page, I was worried about what would happen because the answer could've ranged from a gorgeous scenery shot to a violent execution.
― If there's one thing I can command Shimazaki in the Land of Peace for, it's the first volume's ability to create this incredible layer of consistency from beginning to end. Every time I turned the page, I was worried about what would happen beca...
Moonrise Anime Series Review
Moonrise succeeds in being casual, accessible fare for anime fans new and old and anybody hungry enough for some high-octane popcorn.
― The first five minutes of Moonrise are enough to let you know how streamlined and accessible this series is. This show is anime through and through; longtime otaku can see traces of Full Metal Alchemist, Nausicaa, and Gurren Lagann if they squint their eyes hard enou...
Mask Danshi: This Shouldn't Lead to Love Volume 1 Manga Review
The biggest strength of this volume is the way it works with Sayama’s anxiety.
― Anxiety isn't always treated seriously in fiction. That could be because it's unique to everyone who deals with it; even if the same basic things make multiple people anxious, reactions and coping mechanisms will be different. In the case of Sayama, one of the protagonists of Mask Danshi: This Shouldn't Lead to Love, he ...
The Rose of Versailles Anime Film Review
Now streaming on Netflix! How do you adapt a seminal classic that took 14 volumes of manga and 40 episodes of TV to tell into a feature film? You make it a musical.
― The Rose of Versailles is one of the seminal works of early shōjo manga. With over 23 million copies sold worldwide, it's no surprise that it still holds a place in popular culture over 50 years since its original release. This brings u...
The Legend of Kamui Volume 1 Manga Review
The start of a legendary manga franchise, The Legend of Kamui is rife with social conflict and violence that isn’t for the faint of heart, but an excellent must-read for manga fans hungry for historical epics and political commentary.
― With each and every passing day comes another hardship. A family of farmers accompanied by
genin (outcast) assistants are working in the fields. A young genin child s...
Hunter × Hunter Omnibus Manga Review
Twenty-seven years after Hunter X Hunter's debut in Shonen Jump magazine, we can witness the start of Togashi's legendary manga again with this sleek omnibus edition of the first three volumes.
― Yoshihiro Togashi's decision to pen Hunter x Hunter a few years after infamously closing the book on Yu Yu Hakusho meant one thing: you can take the mangaka out of battle shonen, but you can never take the b...
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Season 2 Anime Series Review
Few anime have mastered the art of absurdism quite as well as Kinnikuman. And for a wrestling anime, its love for the over-the-top makes total sense.
― Few anime have mastered the art of absurdism quite as well as Kinnikuman. And for a wrestling anime, its love for the over-the-top makes total sense. In many ways, it'd be weirder if it weren't as weird as it is. Watching this show feels like you're w...
Rusty Rabbit Game Review
If I had a friend who was curious about Metroidvania-style games, this would probably be at the top of my list of beginner games to recommend to them.
― When I picked up this game to review, I thought it was a match made in heaven. Do you mean to tell me that I get to review a Metroidvania-style game with cute mascot characters in a story written by the man who has written some of my favorite anime o...
A Sinner of the Deep Sea Manga Series Review
Akihito Tomi's A Sinner of the Deep Sea takes Andersen's tale and reframes it, asking what would have changed if the mermaid had a best friend who wouldn't just sit back and let her die.
― We all know the story: a mermaid ventures to the surface, falls in love with a human man, and ultimately ends up dying because of it. Hans Christian Andersen's literary fairy tale The Little Mermaid has become the ...
Aquarion: Myth of Emotions Anime Series Review
Despite a strong start, Aquarion: Myth of Emotions falters early into its run.
― Back in early January, a friend and I decided that we'd sit down every Thursday to watch the latest entry in Shoji Kawamori's Aquarion series, Aquarion: Myth of Emotions. After a few weeks, we realized that we didn't know anyone else who was watching it. There wasn't exactly a ton of buzz or enthusiasm around Myth of Emo...
AMNERO Anthology Volumes 1 and 2
What would happen if Vash from Trigun had a jaded, loudmouth sidekick with a lactation problem?
― The AMNERO anthologies are less like serialized web novels and more like collections of individual chapters written by Hyocoro. Therefore, the first volume doesn't necessarily have a strong narrative flow. The first chapter feels like the pilot to the series, building up a sort of rescue mission that get...
Magic Maker: How to Make Magic in Another World Anime Series Review
Even if things get bogged down by some weird logic and a less-than-stellar second half, there’s still a bit of magical fun to be had here.
― Magic Maker: How To Make Magic In Another World follows Shion as he is given a chance to relive his adolescence in a fantasy world where he can tap into his passion for learning magic, which is almost non-existent in this world. Or so Shion initially thinks. On ...
Luciole Has a Dream Volume 1 Manga Review
We don't know precisely what happened or what will happen, but watching Lu's world unfold on the page is immersive in a way that the best fantasy should be.
― With most manga, whether you read them digitally or in print, it comes down to personal preference, or maybe budget and space concerns. But every so often one comes along that simply begs to be read in print. Luciole has a Dream is absolutely o...
The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy - Game Review
Neither Uchikoshi nor Kodaka are strangers to being experimental and telling rich stories with twists and turns aplenty. But even by their standards, this game is exceptionally ambitious.
― ~This reviewer's headcanon of how this game was conceived~ Japan, late at night. Kotaro Uchikoshi and Kazutaka Kodaka—the creative masterminds behind the Zero Escape series and Danganronpa respectively, among plen...
Be Forever Yamato: Star Blazers: REBEL 3199 Episodes 7-10 Anime Review
I love this kind of dramatic storytelling, no matter how ridiculous it gets, with massive planet-destroying neon space lasers and missiles firing in all directions.
― Sometimes being a fan of the Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers remake series is suffering. On the one hand, it's a stunningly successful update of the 1970s/80s original, one of the most glossy modern sci-fi anime in existence; on th...
Battlefield Waltz Visual Novel Review
I've been playing otome games for quite some time, and I feel confident in saying that Battlefield Waltz is the most difficult I've encountered.
―
I've been playing otome games for quite some time, and I feel confident in saying Battlefield Waltz is the most difficult I've encountered. Before picking it up, I had (foolishly) thought that otome games like the ones that form the basis of the manhwa se...
Even Given the Worthless "Appraiser" Class, I'm Actually the Strongest Anime Series Review
With yet another RPG power fantasy at the helm, what you see is what you get, but what you’re getting ain’t half-bad either.
― Sometimes I feel like fantasy RPG anime was on the tape in Infinite Jest. With so many of these shows pumped out per year, it feels like an onslaught we're forced to watch until the point of collapse. It's so easy to become cynical and jaded by it all. So when the first bit o...
Grisaia: Phantom Trigger the Animation Anime Series Review
It’s almost impressive how simultaneously over- and under-explained this series can be.
― I'm unsure whether or not this applies to the visual novels they're based on, but as far as the anime goes, Phantom Trigger is something of a black sheep among the various Fruit of Grisaia titles. “Phantom Trigger just isn't as good,” you'll often hear Grisaia fans say some version of, “And I don't like the main...
Whoever Steals This Book Light Novel Review
Despite a slow start and some structural weaknesses, Mifuyu and Mashiro’s adventures through books, curses, and family secrets build to an engrossing, action-packed YA fantasy.
― Part fantasy, part mystery, this young adult novel belongs to a subgenre of stories about getting literally “sucked into” a book, with a couple key distinguishing traits. First, instead of the protagonist going into the stor...
Promise of Wizard Anime Series Review
It doesn’t take long to realize that there’s not a helluva lot of things promising about this wizard show.
― Promise of Wizard is an anime so sluggish that it robs itself of any opportunity to be enchanting. Not even the wizard's ball that happens halfway through has any sense of glittery whimsiness. With the plot and animation trudging along at a snail's pace, it feels like nothing is going on. Ther...
Jujutsu Kaisen Hidden Inventory, Shibuya Incident [Limited Edition] Blu-ray + DVD Anime Review
The biggest selling point of the limited edition set is the art book for season two, although calling it an art book feels misleading.
― Season two of Jujutsu Kaisen is broken up into two major arcs that act as definitive turning points for the overall series. The limited edition set itself only comes with the second half of season two, the Shibuya Incident arc, but we will also be reviewing the firs...
Lunar Remastered Collection
This version of the PS1 Lunar games is the most accessible way to experience these classics.
― A standout series from a time in the video game scene where Japanese RPGs and aggressively anime-styled games weren't consistently brought over in English, the Lunar line carved out a historic niche for itself. That legacy can make it easy to initially fixate on what this Lunar Remastered Collection doesn't...
Unnamed Memory Act.2 Anime Series Review
A rushed plotline and frenetic pacing barely leave you with a memory of this show worth naming.
― Many great fairy tales treat love as something no magical curse, giant tower, or fire-breathing dragon can tear apart. In worlds occupied by fairies and magic, love is the most real part of any fantasy; a passionate force that conquers all. Unnamed Memory Act 2 follows that precedent by having its leadin...
Teppu Volume 1 Manga Review
Moare Ohta’s Teppu is a bonafide cult sensation, but is this print-on-demand release punching under its weight?
― In early December, Kodansha USA announced the establishment of their Kodansha Print Club program—a print-on-demand service that gives select digital-only titles the chance to shine in print. The publisher capped off this news by revealing the program's first trio of titles—Narumi Shigemat...
Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! Anime Series Review
It’s almost frustrating how easily this series could've been a comedic subversion of all things isekai and salaryman life, but it just isn’t.
― Especially relative to many of the other titles in the deluge of isekai anime we've gotten in the past few years, Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! (henceforth Headhunted), sounds on paper like it should be such a fun series. I mean, Ju...
My Secretly Hot Husband Volume 1 K-Comic Review
The combination of “reborn in a fantasy world” with Beauty and the Beast works better than you might expect.
― You know the story: a person dies in modern Korea and is reborn in a fantasy world with their memories intact. Or maybe you know this story: a man's life is saved by a hideous beast and he's forced to promise one of his daughters to the monster in exchange. My Secretly Hot Husband is what ha...
Bogus Skill <<fruitmaster>> Anime Series Review
There could be an isekai out there where this series is a fantastic over-the-top comedy in the vein of Haven’t You Heard I’m Sakamoto? But instead, we got yet another generic adventure anime.
― There's no way you didn't notice it: even in a world full of anime with long titles that double as a basic plot synopsis, Bogus Skill <<fruitmaster>> ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of ...
Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms Anime Series Review
I won't say that I was disappointed watching Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, but I was expecting a little bit more than what was given.
― We've been spoiled on good slice-of-life and romantic comedy anime haven't we? As one of my favorite anime genres, I sometimes feel torn. I have been more forgiving of the tired and expected genre tropes, but I do genuinely love it when writers can take ...
A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School! Anime Series Review
Protagonist Haruaki Abe is the worst thing about this series.
― Sometimes a series' greatest detriment is the very character meant to be our window into its world. That's one hundred percent the case with A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School. Protagonist Haruaki Abe is the worst thing about the twenty-four-episode show. Not only is he screechy and whiny, he's also got a uniform fetish that the plot tr...
Hajime no Ippo: Rising Anime Series Review
The show may not be perfect and we may not get another Hajime no Ippo anime but this is a great note to end it on.
― I was a little disappointed with the second season of Hajime no Ippo for taking the focus away from our main character and putting it almost exclusively on the messy, drawn-out nature of the larger boxing world. Hajime no Ippo: Rising scales back that scope, which initially sounds like...
Aldnoah.Zero [Re+] Anime Film Review
This film is worth watching for the new episode alone. As for the compilation film attached to it...
― When it comes to many mecha anime, the protagonist is the pilot of some special or powerful mobile suit and uses it to turn the tide in a war (often one between Earth and space). Aldoah.Zero is the reverse of this. Rather than the heroes, it is the villains who have Gundam-like mobile suits powered ...
Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy is Calling Me and Macross Dynamite 7 OVAs 1-4 Anime Streaming Review
Macross Dynamite 7’s aesthetic is of its time, and it looks great.
― In terms of sheer volume of content, Macross 7 easily beats any of its franchise stablemates. At 49 TV episodes, the three-part Encore OVAs (bundled with the TV show on Hulu/Disney+), a short 1995 theatrical movie – The Galaxy is Calling Me, and the four-part Dynamite 7 OVA, that's a lot of one particular Macross flavor. If you didn...
Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger Anime Series Review
I am so happy that they made a sequel to one of my favorite anime of all time…seven years later.
― I am so happy that they made a sequel to one of my favorite anime of all time…seven years later. OK, that's not technically true, considering that between the airing of the first season of Hajime no Ippo and New Challenger there was a movie, as well as a fairly popular OVA, that was released. While the ...
The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows Volumes 1-5 Novel Review
The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows is, on the whole, a surprisingly good series.
― You could be forgiven for assuming that you've read or watched this story a thousand times before in the year 2025. The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows draws from some very dry wells if you look on the surface; it appears to be both a demihuman harem and a story about a powerful guy who gets kick...
Death Note Tripp Pant Review
Simply put, this is the apex pant.
― TRIPP pants have always been the final form of pants, but this factoid poses the question: what, then, is the final form of TRIPP pants? Enter: the physical manifestation of what it means to dress to impress, Death Note TRIPP pants. Let's back up a bit: for those unfamiliar, TRIPP NYC is a fashion brand that's particularly well known for its bondage pants. If you ...
Macross Zero Anime Series Review
Zero relies heavily on CGI, not just for its mech battles, but also for some backgrounds and scene transitions. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it looks horribly dated.
― A five-episode OVA released over the space of almost two years (2002-2004), in
release order, Macross Zero sits between 1997's Macross Dynamite 7 and 2008's Macross
Frontier. Chronologically, its events occur before every other ...
Lazarus Anime Episodes 1-5 Review
These first five episodes are more than compelling in their own right and set the rest of Lazarus up to be the exact mirror that our global society needs at this moment.
― First and foremost, you should know that this ain't Cowboy Bebop, partner! While Lazarus is the most stylistically and tonally similar to Bebop out of all of director Shinichirō Watanabe's subsequent works, it's not trying to be Co...
Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 3 Anime Series Review
It all means that for an extra-special, extra-long helping of Arifureta, this season feels mostly obligatory. Perfunctory.
― Given the unenviable circumstances of its rocky start, it will always be generally impressive how far Arifureta has come. The anime has soldiered on for multiple seasons and extra ONAs, and even carved out a solid story identity for itself beyond the "dark vengeful power fantas...
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection Game Review
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection shows that it can be fun to revisit the past, but we also have to acknowledge that sometimes the past can be awkward.
― I love Yu-Gi-Oh!. Whether it's the anime or the card game, I always find myself coming back to this franchise and its incredibly overpriced cardboard. It still exuded a charm I couldn't find anywhere else since my childhood. The franchise has gone thr...
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? 4K Remaster UHD & Blu-ray Review
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? is one of the most important films in anime history, but this new 4K restoration might not be the release it deserves.
― If you're around anime old heads for long enough, there's a good chance you'll eventually hear about the mythical year of 1984—a year that wowed audiences with now-timeless classics like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ...
Demon Lord 2099 Anime Review
Hung around the skeleton of established genre tropes is an engaging cyberpunk mystery.
― The greatest praise I can come up with for Demon Lord 2099 is that it's solid. Every aspect of it is competently executed, without any one part that really stands out from the others for better or for worse. The peaks are more like gently sloping knolls, and the valleys are slight dips. It is, to be honest, like ...
With You, Our Love Will Make it Through Volume 1 Manga Review
With You, Our Love Will Make It Through isn’t for everyone, but if it’s in your area of interest, I think it does a good enough job.
― Yes, this is a furry romance manga, and yes, it fits the criteria for young adult fiction. But those two things don't need to be either mutually exclusive or a terrible warning, and to be perfectly honest, any reservations I have about this story don't arise from the ...
I'm the Strongest in This Zombie World, But I Can't Beat This Girl! Volume 1 Novel Review
If you’re in the mood for an equal parts horny and canned romcom light novel with a zombie flavor, you might have fun with this one. But as for me, I’m not exactly dying to read more of it.
― On paper, the idea at the center of I'm the Strongest in This Zombie World, But I Can't Beat This Girl! sounds like it might have something fresh to offer: a zombie apocalypse has broken out and our ordinary hig...
Hereditary Triangle Manga Review
Despite a middle act that flirts with melodrama, there’s a thoughtful maturity to much of this short series as its cast explores complex emotions and questions about grief, change, and regret.
― Hereditary Triangle is technically a two-volume series, but the Yen Press edition politely collects them into a single volume, allowing readers to sink fully into the world of this quiet but compelling drama....
The First Berserker: Khazan Game Review
There's a new soulslike on the block. But does its lore-filled world and fluid combat system offset the crazy difficulty spikes?
― In recent years, the long-running Dungeon & Fighter franchise has been breaking into new genres—first with the fighting game DnF Duel and now with The First Berserker: Khazan. The First Berserker is an action-heavy soulslike. Expect labyrinthine dungeons, massive castles...
Be My Worst Nightmare! Volume 1 Manga Review
This wouldn’t be my first recommendation for high school-set, moderately explicit BL, but I also wouldn’t universally tell you to steer clear.
― Don't you just hate it when your dreams might be telling you something you don't want to hear? That's what Sayo Hoshikawa is afraid is happening to him. Despite his surface-level anger at his classmate Mashiba for things like “being tall” and “girls confessi...
Hikaru in the Light! Manga Review
Even if you can see where Hikaru's plot is going five miles away, none feels hackneyed.
― At times, Hikaru in the Light felt like a season of American Idol to me. We feel the intensity of the competition through its characters' hopes and aspirations, the glow of the stage, and the harsh rules laid down by the competition's judges and producers. It requires the winning idols an extraordinary cut above...
Under the Oak Tree Volume 1 Novel Review
Under the Oak Tree is the sort of series that can consume you, and this hardcover edition allows that to be on full display.
― First things first: this book is gorgeous. There has been a recent surge in decorative volumes, typically bestselling romantic fantasies. While they can't quite compare to the lavishly illustrated decorative books of the early 20th century, they're still a book collector's dr...
Bubblegum Crisis Perfect Collection Anime Review
It's always the right time to discover, or rediscover Bubblegum Crisis, and this Perfect Collection from AnimEigo provides the ideal way to do so.
― A flagship title not just for AnimEigo, but for the anime medium itself, it's easy to see how Bubblegum Crisis caught on all those decades ago. It's arresting before you even know what it's about: a moody intro pans over grimy cyberpunk backdrops ripped ...
Him, the Smile, & Bloom Game Review
Although Him, the Smile, & Bloom wouldn't be the first otome game I'd recommend, it's still a good time.
― Although it's not unheard of (Norn9, anyone?), Him, the Smile, & Bloom isn't an otome game where you're forced to choose between romantic interests. Instead, when you pick which route you want to follow, you also pick which heroine you're playing – each love story unfolds between a specific coup...
A Misanthrope Teaches a Class for Demi-Humans Novels 1-2 Review
A Misanthrope Teaches a Class for Demi-Humans gets more right than you might expect.
― Light novels and their adjacent media forms don't have a great track record when it comes to stories about teachers and students. You're much more likely to find works that play out the teacher/student romance fantasy or the hot school nurse daydream than anything more realistic. Even works focused on just the teac...
Corpse Blade Volume 1 Manga Review
I desperately wanted to make a pun somewhere about how this volume just isn’t as fleshed out as it needs to be, but its problems run deeper than that.
― Do zombie apocalypse stories ever really go out of style? It's like a pendulum—usually spurred by one super-successful title, they'll go in full force for a while. Then maybe there's a brief lull when audiences start feeling sick of what's become an ...
Men of the Harem Volume 1 K-Comic Review
Men of the Harem explores a female power fantasy that we don’t often see.
― You know what they say – what's good for the goose is good for the gander, although in the case of Men of the Harem (from the same writing-and-adaptation team as The Remarried Empress) we ought to reverse those genders. Latrasil, better known as Latil, never expected to ascend the throne of her nation, but after her father's ...
Mononoke The Movie: The Ashes of Rage Anime Film Review
All in all, Mononoke The Movie: The Ashes of Rage delivers another philosophical and emotional look into the lives of feudal Japanese women in the imperial harem.
― The first Mononoke film was focused on the lower rank of concubines in the imperial harem. Thematically, it was about giving up one's individuality to serve a role—and how doing so brought misery to the human soul. However, this was a fat...
Welcome to Ghost Mansion Manga Volume 1 Review
Welcome to Ghost Mansion has a promisingly spooky premise that could develop later on, but its first steps don’t have it hit the ground running like it should.
― There exists an interesting premise within the initial volume of Nebukuro's debut manga. As a story about a landlord who rents an apartment out to the undead, there is potential in making this an enveloping, spooky story about the things th...
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land Game Review
I can wholly vouch for The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land as a fun, breezy title perfect for ringing in the springtime.
― Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is a competent RPG with fun characterization and mechanics that falters slightly in a few areas, but nevertheless makes up for its shortcomings with its charm--not unlike the many ditzy alchemists that sta...
The Obsessed Mage and His Beloved Statue Bride Novel Review
Dear readers, I have found it: the Unholy Grail of Bad Sex Scene Writing.
― Dear readers, I have found it: the Unholy Grail of Bad Sex Scene Writing. Sadly, The Literary Review doesn't appear to have given out a Bad Sex in Fiction Award since 2020, but if they still did, I would immediately nominate The Obsessed Mage and His Beloved Statue Bride She Cannot Resist His Seductive Voice. This is not beca...
The Revenge of My Youth Manga Review
This manga knows how to use its tried-and-true premise about redoing the past to its advantage, giving us a start of a story that makes for a leisurely read even if it comes off as cliche at times.
― There's no going through life without regret. And there's certainly no avoiding those moments where every mistake, error, goof, and flub comes rushing back through your cerebral cortex like a never-endin...
I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day Manga Review
This story is hard to recommend based on the first volume, but it really gets better after this point.
― I Want to Love You Till You're Dying Day feels like a small story with grand ambitions. It's very humble and almost quiet in its approach to storytelling. Not a lot happens throughout this first volume, but every few pages you'll see an image or a character make a comment alluding to something muc...
Fall in Love, You False Angels Volume 1 Manga Review
If there’s a theme to be traced in this volume, it’s the idea of when it’s okay to be two-faced.
― When is it safe to be yourself? That's maybe a more intense question than you'd expect from Fall in Love, You False Angels, which is unquestionably a romantic comedy. But that doesn't mean that it lacks any heavier subtext, and the story of Otogi and Toki can be read in such a way to facilitate discussi...
The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold To Another Kingdom Volume 1 Novel Review
With a very readable translation and art that’s pretty enough, this is an easy read.
― Light novels certainly don't lack for terrible families. Beleaguered protagonists often suffer at the hands of callous stepmothers, dreadful siblings, and neglectful fathers, no matter what the genre. The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom is no exception. Although it plays wit...
Helena and Mr. Big Bad Wolf Volume 1 Manga Review
Despite its title, this series has less in common with fairy tales and more with classic children’s literature, complete with plucky orphans, gruff-but-kind adults, and alarmingly tragic backstories.
― Despite its title, this Taiwanese manhua has less in common with fairy tales and more with classic English children's literature, where spunky kids befriend gruff-but-kind adults over a shared hobby or...
PreCure Splash Star Episodes 24 - 49 Anime Review
Futari wa Pretty Cure may be where the franchise started, but this is where it starts to hit its stride.
― Each season of the greater Pretty Cure franchise typically brings something new to the table. That all begins with Pretty Cure Splash Star. The second team of Cures may have looked awfully similar to the first, but this latter half of their story cements them as not only very much their own team...
The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows - World Premiere Review
It won't be topping any “best of the season” lists but it should be enjoyable to anyone who likes the non-revenge-focused “kicked out of the heroes' party” stories.
― The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows is an upcoming spring 2025 anime series. It had a special premiere showing at a movie theater in Tokyo recently. However, unlike the many other premieres I have attended, this time we were ...
Loner Life in Another World Anime Series Review
Even a thrown-in novelty like a harem of moeblobs can’t save Loner Life from having all of the hang-ups you’d expect out of a generic isekai.
― Just one look at the trailer and the key visual and you can already tell that Loner Life is
going to be another run-of-the-mill isekai. I'd be willing to bet you can even tell where its
strengths and weaknesses lie as well. To be fair, the music isn't bad,...
Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Anime Streaming Review
Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and 2202 show how to handle a reboot with masterful precision.
― Certain series will always hold a special place in your heart because of the time when you watched them. Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 will always be one such work for me. Once upon a time, this was the show that brought me back from a decade-long hiatus from anime fandom. I had no...
Wonderful Precure! Episodes 37 - 50 Anime Review
At the end of the day, Wonderful Precure! is all about hope.
― It's an inevitability of children's media that deals with animals that, sooner or later, the topic of death comes up. Most animals people love as pets don't live as long as humans, and the loss of a pet is often one of the first encounters with death a child has. I was four when my cat Oliver passed, and the conversation my parents had wi...
Sound! Euphonium Season 1 Blu-ray Review
Nearly ten years after it first aired, Sound Euphonium’s first season comes back to us on Blu-Ray, and it’s as dazzling as ever.
― The release of this Blu-ray comes at a very timely moment. Its December release marked the six-month anniversary of Sound Euphonium's triumphant final act, and this upcoming April will mark an entire decade since the anime first aired on Japanese airwaves. To watch this B...
Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse Season Two Part One Anime Series Review
This may not be the best shounen fantasy series out there, but it's still good enough to get its hooks into you and keep them there.
― What is Camelot? Most lore will tell you that King Arthur's fabled court is a Medieval utopia, a land where equality rules and everything is just as it should be. Far be it from The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse to throw that out entirely; original...
Psycho-Pass Providence Limited Edition Blu-Ray Review
I guess you could sort of call this movie an action-packed political thriller. But while it’s definitely action-packed, there’s nothing thrilling about it.
― There's plenty of anime out there that are widely regarded as having gotten worse the longer they went on. But I struggle to think of an anime that's had a bigger and faster glow-down than Psycho-Pass. What began as a fascinating exploration int...
Never 7 - The End of Infinity and Ever 17 - Out of the Infinity Game Review
The times, they are a-changing: visual novels have a niche but robust international following, and Uchikoshi is a recognized name within that.
― It's a good time to be an English-speaking fan of esteemed game writer Kotaro Uchikoshi. While he may be best known internationally for the Zero Escape and AI: The Somnium Files series internationally, he first made a name for himself with his work on Infini...
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